Undeniable Truth
by EternalNightmare
Summary: After kidnapping cagalli from making one of the biggest mistakes of her life, the Archangel and crew are made out as traitors. With the Earth alliance and Zaft both after cagalli, the ship could be in some serious trouble. KiraXCagalli pairing.
1. Chapter 1

Undeniable Truth  
Chapter 1: Pursuit

Disclaimer: I do not own gundam seed or any other gundam series; if I did no one would ever watch them. This fic is making no money, and only is here for fun. All I own is any original ideas and characters I might add.  
Pairing: KiraXCagalli, possible others  
Timeline: Post Gundam seed, Gundam Seed destiny

Summary: After kidnapping cagalli from making one of the biggest mistakes of her life, the Archangel and crew are made out as traitors. With the Earth alliance and Zaft both after cagalli, the ship could be in some serious trouble.

A/N: Kira and cagalli are twins in this fic because I don't think of love as something so simple. It can pop up anywhere, even where we don't want it to. It takes place directly after the kidnapping of cagalli from her wedding in gundam seed destiny but will twist into its own story from there. If you have trouble recognizing the names of mobile suits or cruisers, I may be able to offer some technical information on them if you email me about them.

* * *

It had seemed at first the kidnapping would just blow over, with the threat of a full scale war growing by the day, and the earth alliance refusing to listen to any sort of sane negotiations. What they hadn't expected was Yuna being a complete fool with wanting _his_ precious cagalli back. "He did what?" Cagalli had all but lost her temper at this point, unable to understand the way people thought, especially the idiotic ways of her own country's representatives. 

With a sigh Murrue gave a slow nod, looking around towards everyone assembled in the Archangels briefing room "That's right, Yuna has agreed to offer the earth forces full economical aid and military support if they can bring you back safely to Orb. He has already left with an Orb fleet, probably to meet up with the earth forces to track you down. Not only that Chairman Durandal has been out maneuvered by the council, and Zaft forces have already been ordered to capture you. It seems they hope to use cagalli in order to bargain for orb's neutrality or worst of all military support."

The desert tiger smirked slightly, his hand gripping his cane "Actually this could be a good thing, as long as we have cagalli orb will most likely refuse to use its military to help the alliance. This could make things much easier. The only real problem we have at the moment is not having anywhere to go. At this rate the earth forces will reach us in a day, maybe less. Zaft will probably take longer to deploy, but they will still come after us to." The room became uncomfortably silent, each of them desperate for ideas and wondering where the future might lead them. Sure they had kira, but even he had his limits in fighting.

"Well I guess there isn't too much point in just sitting here. We should all get some rest; the auto navigation will keep us on a steady pace. We will deal with where to go tomorrow, and if we have to fight the earth alliance before hand we will." The captain gave a small smile before every stood up to leave, except for kira. "Uh…I'm sorry, if I hadn't come up with that plan we wouldn't have a pursuit after us." His further apologies were cut off by Murrue, simply smiling. "No, we might have had to support the war if we had stayed in orb anyway. Besides a little adventure is good sometimes right?"

Staring at her with suspicion for a moment he gave a small nod "Alright…I'm going to see if cagalli is alright, I did just crash her wedding back there" The two of them shared a short chuckle just before kira left the briefing room, heading down the hall. Finding cagallis door open, he leaned against the frame slightly, a small smile tugging at his lips. It was rare to see his sister just sitting there, so full of thought without some sort of temper flaring. Although seeing her in uniform was still kind of new for him "Are you alright…?"

She seemed to frown at him before looking at the floor, still planted at the edge of her bed "I don't know what to do anymore you idiot! I thought I had everything under control; I'd just marry the guy…and hopefully try to get out of putting orb into battle. And then you come along and 'kidnap me'. I'm grateful…but why? Even if it was a mistake, shouldn't you let me make it?" When she received no answer another frown pulled at her "Shouldn't you?"

"You care about athrun right? He's my friend, I had to do something" In reality his friend hadn't even crossed his mind during the entire thing, the real reason he felt the urge to take her away was something he still couldn't fully understand but for now he simply decided it was to protect his sister. "And…I couldn't see my sister miserable for the rest of her life…"

"Right…your sister" _what am I supposed to say? That getting closer to athrun just makes me think more about kira? I'm going crazy!_ "I'm tired, the wedding had me up most of the last few nights" moving to hide herself under the bed covers it wasn't long before she heard the doors slide close, sighing in relief she fell into a much needed sleep hoping to gather herself before the morning

* * *

Instead of waking up normally, kira was unfortunate enough to be woken up by the Archangels alarm system. With half open eyes kira tried to jump out of bed quickly, his body being tangled up in the sheets only to land on the ground roughly. "Ow! It's to early…" squirming out of the tangled sheets, kira used the video phone to contact the bridge, only to find it already preparing for battle. 

"Level one battle stations! Have kira get down to the freedom gundam! How many enemy ships?" The captain gripped the side of her chair tightly, a visual of their pursuers appearing on screen. "Captain it appears to be ten ships, including four carriers! Looks like three more from orb are coming from the port side!" Taking a moment to observe the locations of the ships Murrue gave a quick nod "Right, aim gottfried's at the orb ships, valiant's aim at the earth forces in front of us. Lohengrin's are to fire at the first carrier, load ports 4 through 8 with anti beam death charges. Launchers 10 through 16 with sledge hammers! Followed immediately by shrapnel warheads, Igelstellung's are to wait to intercept incoming missiles"

Kira didn't take long to reach the hanger, throwing himself into the seat it descended into the gundam. The start up sequence initiated, the large mobile suit moving into position to launch. Before it could take place two missiles collided with the catapult, causing it to collapse. "Murrue, I can't launch! It's blocked off." When no response came from the bridge, kira moved for a manual take off. Walking through the open doors, the freedom pushed a large piece of metal off to the side before launching the boosters. As soon as he was free of the ship, the wings spread out to increase mobility.

The archangel's cannons were able to strike down a carrier before it launched its mobile suits, but the other three were quickly sending out their wingdams. Not only that, but a few M1 astrays were with the small orb fleet even if they were taking more of a defensive approach. Boosting up to avoid fire, kira quickly responded with locking on to several mobile suits. Unleashing a full barrage, he did his best not to hit the cockpits of the earth forces. Noticing two more mobile suits coming from his left, kira actiated the thrusters to moveover there attack using a beam saber to take out the arms. To focused on the mobile suits he didn't even notice the missile until it smashed into the left side of his suit sending it flying down to slam against the Archangels frame. "Ugh! I can't keep track of all of them" Locking on to the second squad of wingdams he unleashed another barrage from his full arsenal, the damaged part of his mobile suit sparking from the pressure.

Inside the ship things weren't going much better, half of the weapons systems had already been knocked out by missiles and the orb ships had moved behind them to attack the engines. "Captain! Engine power is down to 70, missile ports 4 through 12 are damaged. Gottfried's have been hit! Were losing stability on the port side!"

"Use the remaining missile ports for sledgehammers! Hit the cruisers on the left! We need to break through and quickly. Kira, we need you to concentrate on those missiles! Another direct hit to the ship and we might be going for a swim!"

"Right" dispatching of a few incoming mobile suits, he switched his targeting over to the warheads. Using the beam rifle in combination with the Vulcan's a third wave was repelled. Unfortunately it was rather obvious things were not going well and still vastly outnumbered the ship was close to going down.

"Evade those warheads! Anti beam charges to the left, keep a watch on the engine output!" Murrue was a decent captain, which was true. But against these odds it was almost impossible to imagine a way out. They were fighting in a ship best suited for space combat, and were being attacked at both sides.

"Mobile suits are latching on to the archangel! I'm intercepting!" quickly running over to the back of the ship, the freedom punched an astray off the side of the ship, jumping back to avoid a saber. Blocking a second strike with his shield, he docked under a third slicing through the suits legs. Lifting off from the ship kira used his beam rifle to take down incoming missiles, turning to the left in horror as an astray landed in front of the bridge, peering in to make sure cagalli wasn't present before aiming.

The entire bridge froze as a beam blasted through causing a large explosion…except it wasn't from the archangel. Watching the broken pieces of the astray hit the ships hull Murrue quickly regained herself "Where did that blast come from!"

"We have no idea! It wasn't from kira, and no other ships are in the area!" Another blast tore through two alliance ships, including the last of their carriers. It was then the form of a huge ship began to appear to the side of the archangel. From its appearance it was defiantly a space ship, the bridge protected by a thick area of armor. An area just below the bridge looked like a nelson class warship connected to two other portions of the ship. It was colored mostly black, except for some dark red going along the sides. "Identify that ship!"

"It's not in any of the records, but it doesn't seem to be an enemy. I want to know how that thing was invisible! The mirage colloid doesn't work on earth" Moments later the alliance fleet was in a full retreat, the orb ships turning to regroup with their allies and decide a new plan of attack. "Captain, three heat sources have appeared around kira. It looks like the mobile suits have the same ability as that ship! Not only that we have a transmission coming from are savior"

Standing from her seat, Murrue gave a slow nod before a screen popped up in front of her, a man in his early thirties standing with a small smirk, black hair tied back into a ponytail "We owe you are thanks, I am captain Murrue Ramius of the archangel" Still with a smirk, he gave a small nod before speaking "Koji Rendell, captain of the Invisible. Sorry if we don't exactly welcome you right away, we will keep your pilot and mobile suit on are ship. A shuttle will arrive shortly to bring you over for a little chat. Then we will decide what happens, how does that sound?"

With a suspicious glance Murrue gave a nod, watching koji's image disappear "Looks like we don't have a choice, get a few soldiers to meet me in the hanger. Hopefully we found an ally, and not an enemy."

* * *

A/N: I have mixed feelings on how this turned out, so reviews are appreciated. 


	2. Remain in the Shadows

Undeniable Truth  
Chapter 2: Remain in the Shadows

Disclaimer: I don't own gundam seed, someone else does. All I own is original ideas and characters, which are pretty easy to pick out of the story.

A/N: Here's chapter 2, hope you enjoy. Reviews greatly appreciated, helps motivate my writing.

* * *

Aboard the Invisible

When kiras gundam was brought into the unique ship he was expecting some sort of armed guard waiting for him, but when he stepped out of the freedom all he saw was the same man who had named himself captain of the ship. Staring down at the mans blue eyes kira lowered himself to the hanger floor before pulling off his helmet "I'm kira yamato"

He was met with a simple nod, the strange captain reintroducing himself as koji Rendell "So kid, you're the one who piloted that suit? You were pretty good out there." Showing him a small smirk koji turned his head towards his own ships mobile suits "Want to take a look?" Although kira showed a small amount of suspicion, his curiosity finally got the better of him "Are you sure…if we ended up fighting…"

"Oh I doubt we will, and besides I like to brag" he moved towards the hangers back, four mobile suits sitting proudly while technicians worked hard to keep them in top condition. The color scheme was close to that of the ship, mostly black with a mix of dark red "There based on Orbs Astray design, although we did do some heavy modifying, the frame is close to the same. Not only that we added are own little invention, we like to call it Shadow Shielding, so we call the machines Shadow Breakers. Shadow Shielding is close to Phase shift but allows the mobile suit to appear completely invisible by adjusting to the terrain, it works better in space though; a separate system in the suit is what causes it to disappear from sensors."

Kira followed closely while they approached one of the machines, a small service system taking them up to the cockpit. "Go on kid, take a look inside" another suspicious glance was responded with a small laugh "You don't have to." It wasn't long before kira moved into the comfortable compartment, a series of screens popping up with the mobile suits start up. His slow examination of the system was interrupted by the sound of a shuttle landing, his head sticking up to take a look.

"Hm? That must be your captain, you stick around here kid. If you need anything the technicians and pilots are nice enough." Taking the service station back to the ground floor, he strode over towards the shuttle. After a brief handshake koji took off farther into the ship, Murrue and a few others following close behind.

Sighing slightly kira examined the OS to the shadow breaker "Wait a minute…this is based for coordinators" his head snapped up slightly as a small tapping sound caught his attention, noticing a smiling boy just outside the cockpit who couldn't be more then 15. "Did you think everyone on this ship were naturals?"

"Well I really didn't know…I guess it's just a surprise really, are you guys with Zaft?" When the boy let out a chuckle he wondered if he had said something strange, although he couldn't really see how. "Zaft? You must be kidding. Were not with anyone, everyone on this ship is freelance going where the commander says. The names Clyde, I specialize in anti-ship combat. Every one of the four pilots has a specialty."

"Specialty? So you concentrate on teamwork then?" Kira received a quick nod from Clyde, who seemed more then willing to continue on with details "Yeah, Star is best with close quarters fighting and she can be scary; I'm great with taking down large ships, Sigel rules at long range fighting. And well are commander koji balances between them, really he is just a great pilot all around. Oh by the way, some blonde haired girl from that shuttle is looking for you"

It took only moments for him to realize exactly who was out there. Pushing himself out of the seat, he pulled himself free of the cockpit soon noticing his sister yelling at some poor technician. "Oh god…" Dropping down he let out a sigh, quickly separating her from the confused worker "Cagalli, calm down"

"Calm down! He just called me 'Sir", How hard is it to tell I'm a girl!" after a long sigh kira couldn't help but give a short chuckle "Well actually it's pretty hard if you-Ow!" he glared as cagalli punched him in the arm, slowly rubbing the abused flesh.

"That's what you get!" _he better not see me as a boy, if he does I'll hit him until he changes his mind…_"Besides if you hadn't been on a tour I wouldn't have even talked to that tech anyway" A smirk crossed her lips at her brothers expression of disbelief.

"Are you trying to blame your outburst on me? I didn't even know you were coming across on the shuttle…Why did you anyway?" At the unexpected question her cheeks turned a slight pink before she frowned at him. "Hey, I just heard you went and got yourself hit in that fight and I figured I'd make sure you weren't crying about a scratch or bruise. You are my _baby_ brother after all"

"Hey! You have no proof that I'm your younger brother and not older, and I don't cry over scratches" They continued to fight with each other over small things, most of the technicians staring at the fighting couple unable to hear there exact words…but they sounded like they were married.

* * *

Invisible's Bridge

It wasn't long before Murrue reached the bridge, examining it with interest. The captain's chair sat high above the rest of the bridge, glancing down at the monitors towards the front. The pilot's seats seemed to be at the front, the gunners off to the left and right side. A seat situated slightly in front of the captains was probably second in command or the combat coordinator. Communications seemed to be in the far back and a few other areas she figured were for ship status. "This is a very nice ship"

"You can thank the earth alliance for it; we stole it when they were half way done. Decided to finish it ourselves while adding are own touch. Isn't the Archangel an Orb ship now? Care to explain why you were being attacked?"

"Well…" Murrue went into extreme detail about kira's plan to kidnap cagalli from her own wedding, and continued to explain there getaway which led them into the battle which almost ended up taking there lives "…and that's about it." She watched in confusion as koji broke into a fit of laughter, taking a few moments to calm himself down.

"S-sorry…wow haven't laughed that hard in awhile. Kidnapping a bride eh? Never in a million years would I have expected that, especially since the bride was the head representative…I thought you tried to join Zaft or something."

With a sigh Murrue crossed her arms "it's not that funny, and besides we have no where to go exactly. Not only that, are ship is damaged seriously." She frowned slightly "So do you mind trying to be serious?"

"Yeah yeah…relax. Now that I know you're not with either side I will help you. You can think of me and my crew as modern day pirates, we attack both sides without hesitation. We only fight if we need to though. Well if you need somewhere to go…how about space?"

"Space? That would be great…but there's no way we can get to a mass driver safely, your not suggesting an attack against one of the bases are you?" When he shook his head slowly Murrue smiled "Good, because that would be suicide…"

"Of course it would, that's why we should keep heading south to Antarctica." Before she could pummel him with questions about his logic, he continued with a small smile "Near the beginning of the first war, the earth alliance built a base in Antarctica. They figured Zaft would have trouble attacking it because of the terrain, so they built a mass driver."

"Wouldn't the weather affect there own forces to?" Koji nodded, continuing with the story "That's exactly true, and they found that out to late. Eventually after losing a lot of equipment to the ice and snow they abandoned the base, so if we headed there you could repair your ship and head into space. And since the Archangel is in bad condition we will escort you"

"That's a…interesting offer Mr. Rendell but how can I be sure of your loyalty, this base could be completely fake for all I know." She locked eyes with his for a moment before he turned "That's right, the information could be completely false. But let me ask you this…what choice do you have?"

Following a brief moment of silence Murrue groaned "Well considering that…I gladly accept your offer. I will head back to my ship and after some repairs to the engines we will head out." After saying goodbye she headed back down to the hanger, finding that cagalli and kira had calmed down and were simply talking now. "Hey you two! Come on! They will ship the freedom back to the ship, both of you get to the shuttle!"

The two siblings headed over to the small shuttle quickly "Hey kira…" Grabbing on to his arms sleeve, it stopped him in his tracks. Turning his gaze over to her slowly he stared at her quizzically. "Kira…look I don't want you to think of me as soft or anything, but I want to make sure you plan to stay around…"

"What are you talking about cagalli? I'm right here." Turning completely towards her now, she got his full attention "Why don't you tell me what this is about." She gave him a frown but nodded "I've been thinking about my father, and I just want to make sure you will stay near me…your all I have left you know…" _Even if it isn't in the way I wish… _"So I just want to make sure again…"

Smiling slightly kira gave out a sad smile, remembering her tears when she lost Uzumi "I don't plan to go anywhere, besides if I felt like abandoning you I would have let you marry that guy…" She scowled at him, giving him a second punch in the arm "I never did hit you for ruining my wedding…" Before he could open his mouth to protest she hugged him with a smile "Thanks…" Seeing him blush before returning the embrace she held back a chuckle "Well let's get going"

* * *

Archangel

It only took half an hour to properly repair the ships engines, but a full hour to explain to the crew exactly why they were heading to Antarctica. Murrue was bombed with questions from all angles, and also complaints to her trust in the new ships captain but in the end the two ships headed south towards the ice covered continent.

On his way back to his room, kira was caught by lacus who had turned a corner running straight into him. Both of them falling to the ground, kira was the first to pick himself up offering a hand to the singer "Lacus! I'm so sorry…I guess I was kind of spacing"

She took his hand gratefully, pulling herself back to her feet "Oh my thank you very much kira…What have you been spacing about?" Brushing off her dress her eyes moved back up towards him, smiling sweetly towards him "Is it anything bad? Maybe I could help you"

"Oh no, I just have a lot to think about. So much has happened and so fast to, guess I'm still trying to put it all together…I'm sorry if I worried you" They talked for a small amount of time about what they thought about everything that was going on, from there lack of allies to the small amount of time they spent together in the last day or so.

"I'm sorry lacus; I guess we haven't really talked much in the last two days. Once things calm down I'm sure we will have plenty of time together…like at the orphanage" They shared a small smile before she gave him a short hug, his heart splitting between two things. He knew when he was with lacus something tore at him, and unfortunately he wasn't sure what it was trying to tell him…and in a small part of his mind he had been trying to avoid lacus, he felt an enormous guilt for not being about to think of them together in the same way. At one point he thought it was a great thing for them to have each other, but now he wanted something else that he just couldn't find and yet it felt familiar.

They parted soon after, saying there short goodbyes with a lingering promise to talk soon. With a long sigh kira retreated to his room to gather his thoughts, it seemed way to much was on his mind lately. Not only did he have to worry about possibly fighting the Invisibles captain and the Archangels safety, but he also had to think about lacus and what she meant to him…that and cagalli. _Wait where did she come from…she has nothing to do with this, unless…maybe she can give me some advice; she's a girl…even if I do tease her about being boyish_

* * *

A/N: Chapter 2 down, send me your feedback if you please. 


	3. Snow and Ice

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 3: Snow and Ice

Disclaimer: Gundam seed/Destiny is the property of someone else not me, which should be obvious considering I'm writing fanfics. I only own certain original ideas and characters.

A/N: Chapter 3 has arrived, seems I'm getting closer to pushing kira and cagalli together. Will it happen this chapter? Read and find out. Hope you enjoy. Oh and as you've probably noticed kira's personality is a little off from what it is in Destiny, yet more then it was in Seed…I tried to put it somewhere in the middle, good or bad?

* * *

Archangel

The trip towards Antarctica was a difficult one, in no small part due to the Archangels damage. They were forced to move at half speed, which the engines could just barley support on their hasty repairs. When they got closer to the continent the ice and cold did not help the exposed ship which usually meant anyone lucky enough to have a spare winter coat on board could make a fortune selling it to another crew member.

Even so they moved silently and slowly despite the threat of the earth alliance growing closer by the day, having already regrouped and gathered reinforcements. The entire ship remained on edge when not huddled under 4 blankets whenever off duty, and no one ever wanted to go on deck for sight seeing.

"Captain, why don't we raise the temperature inside the ship? It seems kind of odd to make everyone freeze like this" Murrue sighed slightly giving a slow shake of her head "We can't…we need all power to the engines, we're lucky we have enough left over to use the lights." Her head snapped up when one of the communications officers reported an incoming message, the face of there escorts captain shown arguing with one of his pilots.

"What are you talking about Clyde? A zaku can beat an earth alliance Wingdam hands down!" They seemed to glare daggers at each other before Clyde shouted back "The wingdam is equipped with better mobility! The zaku can be adoptable, but they don't have the right capabilities!" Before they could continue Murrue cleared her throat, catching the captains attention "Ah…oh sorry about that" pushing aside his pilot he flashed a nervous smile.

"We are only an hour or so away from the base, turn 10 degrees west and when you see a large mountain shaped ice formation look for a large steel door. We are working on getting it open" passing him an annoying look the archangels captain let out a sigh "Right…thank you for that information, you can go back to…whatever you were doing" The screen disappearing from the front monitor seconds later.

Andrew waltfeld couldn't hold back his laugh "I can't believe we are counting on that guy…you can tell he isn't in a regular military though, sort of eccentric" Murrue smiled slightly before giving a nod "Although we can say the same about you…honestly yogurt sauce on any kind of food is just disgusting"

"Hey don't put it down until you at least try it, you can't say its disgusting until then" Shaking her head she contacted the hanger "How is the repairs on the freedom coming?" With a long pause one of the head technicians responded "Oh hey captain, there coming just fine…I swear I don't know why we keep trying to repair the inside, kira won't let us touch it"

"Just respect his wishes and leave the inside of the freedom to kira, if there are any problems let me know immediately" With the tech immediately agreeing Murrue leaned back in her chair, eyes scanning the icy continent.

* * *

The base had turned out to be very real; inside of a large steel gate was a completely abandoned military base with plenty of resources and parts left behind, the inside seemed like a small harbor sheltered from the cold and ice somewhat by the solid mountain. A second steel gate in the back led towards the mass driver, and some slightly frozen over maintenance equipment seemed to only need a small amount of tweaked to be brought online again. 

Exiting the ship with a jacket wrapped firmly around her, Murrue let out a small sigh watching the cold breath. "Alright! Let's get the repairs started!" Along with the technicians and a few of the invisibles crew they began a hasty completion on much needed repairs.

"Hey kira!" Waltfeld caught up with the teenage pilot in one of the halls, handing him a pistol "The captain of that ship wants you to help him explore the facility just in case; I don't trust him so I have three of the crew waiting for you outside. Be careful" Without giving him a chance to question the orders he left down the hall.

"Hey wait…man I was going to catch up on some sleep to…" letting out a yawn he left to the exit of the ship, moving down the ramp to the cold metal surface. "I knew I should have bought a winter coat in Orb…" He spotted two soldiers from the ship, both armed and looked equally displeased with the mission…and next to them was…"cagalli?"

"Yeah what? It's boring on the ship sometimes, figured it would be a good time to do something. Besides what danger is in an abandoned facility?" There eyes met in a dead lock before he let out a frustrated groan, he really seemed to be seeing a lot of her lately. "Yeah but…"

"There you are kid…" Koji caught him around the neck with one arm fiercely, letting his face turn slightly blue before letting him out of the tight grip. Next to the odd captain was a girl who looked about twenty, blue hair down to her mid-back and wearing a black uniform as most of the Invisibles crew except with a skirt replacing the common pants. Unfortunately she didn't look very friendly, more like the kind of woman who would rather you stayed far away from her.

Looking at kira's armed escort koji noticed the blond again "What are you two dating or something? I heard about you two in the hanger, and now I find you together again?" He couldn't have missed the red that crossed both their faces instantly.

"Cagalli? She's my sister! That's just…." He was cut off by cagalli, who spoke with a pained and spiteful tone "…Sick, Twisted…" She let out a frown before pointing to the small door leading deeper into the mountain "Can we go now? It's cold out here"

"Oh right let's see if we can find some supplies in here then" Pushing the aged door open with ease koji pulled a flashlight out, aiming it down the dark corridor. He led the group, the girl on his left and the two archangel soldiers behind them. The two siblings stayed in the back, their own flashlights examining the old rusted walls. "Kira, this place doesn't seem very safe"

"Yeah I know what you mean…this base looks like it's seen much better days" The group turned a corner to head down another long path, no one noticed when cagalli first started down another extending off that. "Hey guys over here!"

Heading down to join his sister in the hallway he saw a door towards the end of the hallway, a faint light pouring out from underneath. By the time the rest had backtracked to the pathway kira's ears caught a slight sound. Looking up he pointed his flashlight towards the ceiling. With eyes wide he tackled his sister to the ground almost immediately "Watch out!" A mix of broken metal supports and various debris poured down on top of where they had just been standing, cutting them off from the rest of the group.

Amber eyes closed tightly, about to lash out at kira before she realized what happened. Looking up she found herself noticing a second thing…he was on top of her. Cheeks red she stared up at him, who just seemed to be sighing his relief "Are you alright cagalli?"

"Y-yeah…thanks…" She couldn't seem to recall how long she just stared up at him, his concerned look changing swiftly to a warm smile. With her heart pounding a mile a minute she didn't know what to feel when koji's voice caused him to pick himself up, helping her off the floor almost immediately after.

Kira was defiantly glad he heard voices when he did, because staring down at cagalli like that was twisting him up in ways he couldn't quite understand. The only understandable thought in his head at that moment was how cute she looked although he couldn't figure out where that came from. Getting back at the task in front of him, he tried to find a way past the blockade "Koji! Are you there?" The dust caused him to cough, covering his face with his arm.

"Hey kid! Good your alright, look there doesn't seem to be a way through this so were going to look for a way around, stay put!" The tapping of feet was all that proved to kira that they had already took off.

Brushing herself off cagalli frowned, picking up her flashlight "Great, well let's see what's behind that door then" it only took a single step for kira to grab her arm "Shouldn't we just stay here? We have no idea what could be in this place."

"You worry to much kira, besides to get to us those other guys would have to go through that door to so might as well go through anyway" When kira finally stopped protesting she moved towards the door with her brother already holding his gun up.

Opening the door slowly, she let her flashlight scan the room for a moment before moving inside with kira close behind. All they found was what was left over from a small fire, which seemed to be almost completely out by now. Both of them realized people living here would be extremely strange, at least under normal circumstances.

With closer inspection of the room revealing nothing, the two moved through a door towards the left corner. Kira went through first, just barely jumping back as a bullet hit the wall. Moving back into the room quickly, he rolled behind a large table he saw when fist entering, a second bullet missing. Cagalli remained perched against the wall in the first room, peeking out only for a moment. Unable to see anything she pulled her head back quickly, pulling out the pistol at her waist.

With the complete darkness engulfing the room sound was all he had to go by, and even so he didn't want to shoot anyone "We don't want to fight you!" He heard a bullet hit something near him but it wasn't enough to distract him "Please don't fire!"

"Wh-Who are you? Why are you here?" The woman's voice was filled with panic, her hands shaking. Smiling slightly kira stood up slowly, holding his hands in the air. "My names kira…look we were just exploring and…" A bullet nicked his arm slightly causing him to cringe.

"Do-Don't move!" He could hear a slight shuffling noise and soon had to cover his eyes when light engulfed the room. Once she saw him her gun dropped "Oh thank god…you're not from the earth alliance…"

After getting cagalli to come in from the next room she introduced herself only when kira told her to, still suspicious of the whole thing. The woman who had shot at kira wore a lab coat over simple red clothes, blond hair tied back into a bun. Biting down on her finger slightly she nodded "I'm Taira fukiwari…I-I'm sorry about…um…shooting at you"

Shaking his head quickly kira sighed "I didn't mean to scare you…we got separated from some friends…we were just searching for some supplies." Cagalli crossed her arms, glaring slightly towards the woman "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

Jumping slightly at her harsh tone the woman took a step back "Oh my, you have quite an attitude…your boyfriend here is a lot sweeter when talking to strangers…" Cagalli's temper shot up, her cheeks beat red "He's my brother!"

Looking between them with quick glances her lips curled into surprise "Really? How did that happen…your both so different…" She jumped again when cagalli spoke "Th-That's not the point! I asked you why you were here!" She struggled when kira grabbed her shoulders trying to calm her down "Relax cagalli, you're not helping" When she finally calmed her temper she let out a low grumble.

Smiling weakly the woman sat down in a small chair she found amongst the disorganized room. "I'm sorry…I…was with the earth alliance forces here. They were…researching something, and when they abandoned the base…they abandoned me to"

Even cagalli couldn't help but sympathize when hearing that information "That's horrible. How could they just leave you like that?"

"Well…I guess they were hoping I would just die after awhile. They didn't think I would know where the hidden supply storages were when they left them behind…I thought maybe they were coming to reclaim the base…and would kill me"

With every passing day kira couldn't help but notice how bad of a path the earth forces were taking. "Do you know what they were researching here at all?" She gave a slow nod, and seemed almost hesitant to continue "Of course I do…I was helping them after all. We were experimenting with a drug…when used on a pilot, it would create extreme anger and stimulate the mind so they could fight beyond their normal capabilities…but, it had some…disastrous qualities"

Taira went on to explain how pilots who had been exposed to the drug more then a few times would start to have nervous breakdowns, often clawing at their own body in complete panic. When exposed even longer they would literally start to decompose slowly until they eventually died as a bloody mess. "I…tried to stop them when I found out the side effects, but when the base became unmanageable they figured they could just leave me and my protests to rot…"

Biting down on her lip slightly cagalli clenched her fists tightly "That's….that's just terrible! How can the earth alliance treat people like that…isn't it bad enough we lose some many people in a battle? Now the nations are killing there own people just to get stronger…"

"Taira…why don't you come with us? We're not with Zaft or the alliance. We were planning to head off into space" Kira smiled slightly placing a hand on cagallis shoulder again to calm her down. "I don't really have a choice do I? Its better then being stuck here….well let's get going then." With a smile she opened the door behind her, her face turning white when she spotted the gun barrel right in her face.

Koji smiled, aiming a flashlight over star's shoulder as he noticed the two teens "Oh hey there you are, put the gun down star." When she did so reluctantly he allowed the three to pour out into the hallway "And who might this be?"

"Her names Taira, the alliance abandoned her here because she had a change of heart about some experiments" After all the introductions were over he and cagalli were forced to carry supply boxes back to the ship, despite Cagalli's loud protests.

* * *

Antarctica base port

When the search team had made it back into the sheltered port they found alarms going off from both ships a speaker from the archangel coming alive in only a moment. "Earth forces are approaching! Kira, cagalli get to the hanger immediately!"

"Well that was fast…I'll see you two on the battlefield!" Koji and star left for their own ship, while the twins headed for the mobile suits of the archangel. Arriving in the busy room the two were briefed further. "Hey good you two are here" Waltfeld was already dressed in a combat suit, heading for his murasame. "It looks like the earth alliance is getting desperate. There really bringing in an army this time around, there's around 18 alliance ships, 12 of them from Orb. The archangel and the invisible will remain inside the base, while we engage them with mobile suits."

Kira gave a slow nod before looking towards the freedom "So if you count you and me, and the four mobile suits form the Invisible then we have 6. Let's jus hope it's enough…"

"I don't think so, I'm going to launch in the strike rouge to!" Cagalli was gone before kira could even open his mouth. Sighing he boarded the freedom, starting up the system before contacting the strike rouge "Cagalli you do realize we are fighting orb…"

"Of course I do kira! But maybe they will listen to me…and if not I don't want you to be the only one being forced to fight! I can't…I can't let you do this alone!" After getting a soft smile from kira his transmission ended, leaving her to watch the freedom launch. "Cagalli Yula Athha, Strike Rouge…launch!"

* * *

A/N: Chapter 3 is down…ended up a bit longer then I planned but I just couldn't stop typing…needed a distraction from an incident. Anyway tell me what you think. 


	4. Zero Visibility

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 4: Zero visibility

Disclaimer: Look at the other chapters…

A/N: And here we are with another chapter, hope you enjoy.

* * *

Antarctica main gate

Adjusting the systems to compensate for the terrain kira received a message from the Archangel "Hey there! I'm going to be taking care of all communications to the mobile suits now" Taira smiled slightly adjusting the headset she wore. "The captain told me to inform you a large snowstorm has started up outside, and to be careful"

Nodding slowly kira made sure to compensate for the low visibility "This is going to make things a lot more difficult…but at least it won't be any easier for them" His eyes remained fixated on the steel gate, watching as it slowly lifted from the ground revealing more and more of the raging snow. Without hesitation he lifted off the ground, soaring through the veil of white.

Kira knew both cagalli and waltfeld had launched, and most likely the invisibles crew as well. Unfortunately he could hardly see two feet in front of him; the only thing he had to go on was data being transmitted on ally and enemy locations from the Archangel. With this sort of weather targeting was pointless; he immediately drew one of the freedoms beam sabers watching the monitors for any movement.

A small alarm caught his attention and he quickly started the forward boosters, launching out of the way of several shells soaring past him "There using fragmentation shells to do blind bombardment? There going to hit there own mobile suits!" Turning quickly he evaded several beams speeding forward, his saber cut through the legs of two wingdams a third attempting to catch him from behind. Blocking a beam with his shield, his saber connected with his enemies.

He brought up the freedoms knee, knocking back the mobile suit before slicing off the arm. He blasted past the sparking machine, his elbow colliding with another suit followed by his saber taking off the head and left arm. The snow caused him to miss seeing a second wave of fragmentation shells, his shield breaking under the bombardment. Throwing the ruptured shield he drew a second saber, his thrusters allowing him to move over a swipe from an incoming wingdam quickly moving behind it, slicing it in half.

"This would be easier if I knew how many there were!" Dodging a third volley of shells two of the alliances own mobile suits were taken out in the attack. An M1 astray attacked from behind, a beam rifle cutting through the arm before kira noticed the strike rouge launch past him "She's getting good…" His targeting computer went wild as four murasames soared towards him, kira quickly cutting his engines and allowing the freedom to drop, avoiding the missiles.

Restarting the system he started the thrusters just before the water, gliding over it before he launched upwards surprising two murasames and quickly cutting off the wings. Seeing two explosions after guaranteed the snow blinded them enough to send them crashing into the mountain. Spotting the four murasames from before he used his full arsenal to target them when they came into his sight, the beams cutting through the armor quickly while the pilots screams were swallowed by the raging storm. He couldn't figure out how they were finding him so easily, while he was constantly on the defensive.

He turned quickly, a beam nicking the shoulder of the freedom leaving a small scorch mark. Blocking a saber strike from the enemy he counted with his own, staring with wide eyes when it moved under the strike attacking at his leg. Moving quickly he saw the mobile suit disappear into the snow, striking at his side which he barely avoided.

"That things been painted white, I can barely track it!" He could tell it wasn't one of the usual pilots, blocking another strike with his own saber. Stabbing towards it with his second, it was caught in the enemy's shield which was thrown aside followed by the freedom getting bashed in the chest by the mobile suits knee.

Kira was distracted by a scream piercing through the radio, which he immediately realized was Cagalli's. Attempting to blast away he was cut off by the mysterious pilot, who took off the freedoms right arm with a quick slash. Moving backwards slightly kira used the double sided beam saber in his remaining arm "I don't have time for this!" Charging forward he ducked under the attack, taking off a leg of the mysterious suit, followed quickly by ramming his own freedom into the frame.

Despite being pushed back by the attack he kept coming, at least until it was forced to thrust upward to dodge several blasts. A picture appearing on his screen was all it took for kira to smile "Koji!" He gave a small nod before shielding the freedom from the damaged enemy, taking a beam scythe from his back before charging forward "Go after your sister! I got this guy"

Sighing kira took off, contacting the Archangel quickly "What's going on out there! Where was cagalli last?" It took a few moments but tiaras voice soon filled the cockpit "Cagalli was engaging a few mobile suits in the east when we lost contact; I'm sending you the coordinates now." Pinpointing the lost signal he east, quickly slicing through the weapons of two wingdams on his way.

Landing on a strong piece of ice kira scanned the area slowly, eyes squinting to see through the snow. It was then he noticed 5 wingdams hovering nearby. Lifting off from the ground, the heat from his thrusters caused the ice below to melt apart. Soaring forward he sliced through two closest to him, the sparking machines pulling back quickly. Flying in a spiral he dodged several beam shots, one hitting the freedoms side causing several alarms to go off. The right monitor exploded causing a few pieces of metal to cut his cheek, but he was lucky it wasn't anything more.

Balancing the damage and cooling he soared under the third wingdam, slashing off the aerial attachment sending it plummeting through the ice and into the cold water. He sped straight through the last two, taking off both an arm and a leg on one which exploded from the damage; the last flew off sparking from several carved out sections. Sighing he finally noticed the strike rouge; it seemed the ice had caused it to lose balance and crash back into a large glacier.

Wiping the blood from his cheek kira landed slowly on a flat part of the glacier, zooming in his camera towards the cockpit "Good it's intact…I hope your all right cagalli." His radio came to life moments later "Kira! The snow is interfering with are radar, report" Catching his breath he pressed in a few buttons, cutting the engines "Kira here, I found the strike rouge but I'm to damaged to bring it back in" _I got to distracted…and that pilot…_

"Alright, we've picked up your coordinates. Back up will be there shortly" Taira's voice died away as the radio cut off. Kira had tried to wait…tried to just sit back, but he couldn't stop worrying about cagalli. Anytime he tried to contact her nothing came back. With a frown he suddenly opened the cockpit, covering his face quickly when the snow lashed out at him.

Lowering himself to the ground he kept his eyes squinted towards the strike rouge, he took it one step at a time. He would test the spot in front of him for stability then continue on, despite landing rather close to her mobile suit it took him awhile to reach it. Already slightly numb from the cold kira climbed up the large machine, almost losing his grip on the snow thinly covering it.

It was reckless and stupid, but he had made it to the cockpit and even managed to get it to open up by rewiring the circuits. As soon as the doors opened, he noticed the still form of his sister her head staring to the side with a small amount of blood running down her forehead. _Oh god…that crash must have been worse then I thought…_His heart pounded when he came closer, nervously checking her for a pulse. He could have cried when he felt it, weak but steady. What worried him more was the fact her skin was extremely cold.

Slipping completely into the mobile suit he ran a quick diagnostic "Seems to be still working…" Carefully moving cagalli he moved to sit in the pilot's seat, resting her unconscious body in his lap, her head falling against his shoulder. Blushing madly kira pushed some of her hair back "Just had to get yourself hurt…" Staring up the main systems he noticed a shadow breaker landing near the freedom.

Smiling kira sent a communication out, blushing deeper when he saw the smirk come over Clyde's face. "Kira I had no idea you were like that…what are you doing in there anyway? Couldn't wait to see her?" They were simple jokes but his reaction easily brought the boy to laugher, blowing a strand of green hair from his face "So I take it you want me to haul the freedom back to the Archangel?"

"That would be great, I'll get cagalli back." He watched him take off, his own gundam being hauled by the waist. Starting up the rouges systems one at a time he slowly lifted it from the ground, getting it on two feet. _Thrusters are still working, good_. Lifting off from the ice he noticed the snow storm had died down a bit, allowing him to easily navigate towards the base despite the damage.

* * *

Kira was kind of surprised that he didn't run into any resistance on the way back, either the battle was going really well or it had been moved to one area. Passing through the gate he let out a sigh, noticing one of the Shadow breakers equipped with a long range rifle at the main entrance probably guarding it. Commencing a landing in the Archangels hanger he noticed the freedom already resting comfortably inside, technicians working on repairing the heavy damage. 

He wasted no time in getting out of the mobile suit, holding cagalli tightly to him until he was completely lowered to the ground. Technicians swarmed over him, asking if cagalli was ok, what happened out there and several other questions but he had no time to talk. Pushing through them kira ran for the medical room, the hallways seeming to get longer as he became more and more worried…he knew he was over reacting, but how could he not?

When he burst through the medical doors the doctor practically fell over staring towards him with blank eyes "Kira what happened…?" The doctor could hardly understand the words that poured from him, considering most of it wasn't in any sort of sentences. "Calm down, put her down on the bed and we'll take a look."

After an initial examination the doctor smiled, wrapping her head up slowly "She's fine, she hit her head a bit hard but beside for a bit of blood and a bump nothings wrong. She should be up and about in a few hours, a day at the most" Kira nodded slowly, refusing to leave to get some rest when the doctor suggested it. He wanted to see that she was fine for himself…although he didn't quite like the time frame, a few hours or an entire day?

"Well if your not going anywhere…then you can look after her. I haven't slept in 2 days…if you or anyone else needs me I'll be in my room" The doctor gave a small wave before leaving through the door, leaving a yawning kira staring up at the ceiling.

On the bridge things had calmed down, waltfelds murasame having already returned to the hanger "Captain everyone is on board and the invisible is ready to. Should we head for the Mass driver now?" Giving her nod of approval Murrue smiled, it would take awhile for the enemy to realize they had retreated due mostly of the snow and it would take even longer to find the entrance to the base. "Alright, remember there is supposed to be only a small path through the ice to the mass driver. We need to move slow and stick close to the invisible, it may take awhile to get there but I doubt the alliance will catch up"

* * *

It was hours later when cagalli finally woke up; placing her hand on her forehead with a load groan "Ugh my head is killing me…" Turning her head slightly she allowed her eyes to focus, slowly noticing kira's sleeping form…not in the chair next to her bed, but on the bed itself. Although kira did seem to be lying as far away from her as possible, unfortunately enough. Smirking slightly she pushed him, holding back a laugh when he hit the floor with a grunt. 

She watched as his head slowly peeked up over the edge of the bed, a scowl crossing his face quickly "Cagalli! What was that for!" Kira watched her cross her arms, a false frown and a glare aimed right towards him "Who said you could sleep on the bed with me? What was it, doctor's orders?"

He blinked several times, that bump on the head sure put her in a playful mood "I was tired, I figured you wouldn't mind sharing a bed…and I certainly didn't expect to be shoved off" He glared back, sitting back down on the bed. He grew slightly unnerved when she smirked towards him.

"Really…" She easily moved towards him, pinning him down to the bed with a small smile "Did you want to share a bed kira…?" The way she said it made kira shiver slightly, staring up at her with disbelief "Cagalli what's gotten into you…" She suddenly let out a sigh, staring down at him with so many emotions running through her kira couldn't sort them out "Kira you're an idiot…you really haven't noticed have you?" _guess I hid it better than I thought…_

"Noticed what?" He was rather confused, staring up at her with a strange look in his eyes completely oblivious to the pain she felt…and it wasn't from the hit to her head. "Did I miss something…?"

She tried to give him another moment to figure it out but it was obvious he didn't have a clue "Haven't you ever wondered why I get more upset when you think I'm a boy then when someone else does? Or how I come to you when something happens?" From the way he stared at her it was obvious he hadn't "Damit kira I love you!"

* * *

A/N: Yes some Out of character behavior near the end there, but I thought it was kind of cute…well anyway tell me what you thought. I know few people are reading this but…I'll keep it going even if it's for my own amusement, but I can't figure out if it's not being read because no one bothered looking at it, or they didn't like it. I don't mind constructive criticism… 


	5. Discoveries

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 5: Discoveries

Disclaimer: I own…nothing; yes I'm a poor person who writes to pass time. Any original characters and ideas are mine, and it should be easy to see which ones they are.

A/N: I would like to pass on my gratitude for those who find the time to take a look at my story; I write for my own enjoyment but can't help but get happy with positive reviews, and even criticism is good. I had my first batch of real criticism last chapter and it helps improve the writing I think. Now let's get back to the drama, it will continue from last chapters scene but not immediately, a bit of a side track first (Consider it going on at the same time as cagallis declaration last chapter). I'll warn you this chapter is more for story and character development…which I know can be a bit boring, but it's necessary.

* * *

Alliance headquarters

Dim lights flickered on, a small room coming to life with the added light. A large monitor against the wall charged up, several men sitting along a large table. "Why have you called this emergency meeting? I thought you said the archangel issue was taken care of." Nine members of the alliance sat stiffly in their seats, four on each side with one at the head.

A large man at the end of the table sat with a folder opened before him, a small beam of light focused against his face shining off the glasses he wore "Calm down gentlemen. Some new information has come to my attention, and I would like to share it." As the other eight members of the meeting whispered to each other his voice brought them to silence "As we pursued the Archangel they were rescued by a ship that wasn't in are normal archives."

"Commander what are you getting at?" He shifted in his seat on the right side, eyes staring straight into him quickly causing him to become unnerved. Gathering his composure he continued "Is there something you're trying to say? If it wasn't in are normal archives it was prototype correct?"

"That's correct general, very good reasoning. I'm sure you all remember the rebellion from 3 years ago, despite the fact we kept it silent it is a major problem even today." As small voices broke out again he cleared his throat, looking down at the folder "Cosmic Era, year 69. On January 1st earth alliance scientists worked with coordinator allies to create a Fortress class spaceship."

"February 24th, coordinators who completed their part of the ship began to be discretely assassinated by earth alliance special forces. March 4th, suspicious coordinators and natural sympathizers begin a rebellion in sector 4 of factory number three." Before he could continue with the report the general to his left cut in. "Yes we all understand what happened there, surviving rebels after clearing out the factory hijacked the incomplete ship and disappeared with the installed shadow system."

"Correct general, and the reason I called this meeting because the archangel was saved by that same ship. After comparing the reports to the ships original blue prints it is obvious we are dealing with the invisible, except they seemed to have completed it"

To his right an aged general spoke up "Then we should be concentrated on that threat! You know what that ship is equipped with; it could take out an entire fleet with that kind of power!" After a light cough the commander folded his arms in front of him "I understand that perfectly, but using that weapon would overload the ship as well. After are engagements with the invisibles mobile suits I will go over the pilot information with you" His hand shifted to the left, pressing in a small button on the side of the table.

A picture of koji appeared on the walls monitor, the commander's voice raising "Major Koji Rendell, first class pilot in the earth alliance coordinator division" At the time the alliance had tricked many coordinators into helping them, after 'guaranteeing' their safety. "Excelled in all combat training, had a substantial military service record and a history of disobedience. Koji is believed to have begun the rebellion, and is now rumored to be the captain of the invisible. Outgoing and friendly, inspires loyalty"

The slide disappeared to reveal a picture of star, cold eyes causing several of the younger generals to look away "1st lieutenant Star Alista, support pilot in the 13th mobile corps. She is Natural born." He pulled a second paper from the folder, neatly piling it on top of the first "Decent scores in all military areas, excelled in close combat situations. Fiercely loyal to Major Rendell, she is reported to have taken a bullet to the arm to guard him when a natural attempting to get rid of him two weeks before the rebellion. Extremely quiet and independent, she was an orphan until the age of 12."

"Private first class Sigel Daichi, foot soldier recruited into coordinator mobile division three weeks before the rebellion. Top sniper scores, decent scores in all areas except close combat. He worked on the long range cannons for the invisible and doubles as an engineer. We know very little about Sigel."

"Private Clyde Ichiro, studied architecture and design of military ships. Recruited into 11th mobile corps and rumored to be able to spot the weaknesses in any sort of machine, he achieved top scores in demolitions and heavy weaponry. The rest of his scores were balanced, except he failed sniper training." Pulling several folders from under the table he passed them around the table "All the information is in these folders, including the information for the less notable names aboard the ship."

As the group skimmed through the folders a young general got an evil smirk "Clyde Ichiro is the only one left with family? Where is his sister now…?" Several generals got the same twisted smirk except for two, each looking horrified at what they could be planning "How can you even think of threatening a pilot with his family!"

The commander smirked slightly, the monitor at the front going dead "Simple…this is a war. Since you seem to against this admiral haruka I will have you carry out this order. Take the sister into custody and use her to turn the pilot against them, you will lead the 3rd lunar fleet…I suggest you leave immediately." As soon as he had left the room the commanders smirk turned to a dull frown "That old man is to idealistic for this council…he doesn't realize we have to do anything to win this war, now onto another matter."

A small chime caused the leaders to turn towards a speaker system, the nervous voice of a woman passing through the room "P-pilot Ichi Isami is here for the meeting commander…" After approving the statement the door slid open, a young pilot no more then 17 strolling in with a grin. Short brown hair not even making it down to his shoulders, several scars revealed on his neck.

"Commander who is this boy? I don't remember you ever mentioning him in these chambers before." Standing the commander made his way to the front of the room, turning to look at the leaders from ichi's side "This is the only known survivor of the Antarctic lab tests. He engaged the freedom gundam near Antarctica before they lost are pursuit…" The room went dead silent, the last bit of light in the room fading away as the door closed.

* * *

Archangel

From the bold declaration from his sister, kira's thoughts suddenly came to a silent halt, he didn't even know what to think let alone say. After getting over the shock he smiled sadly, there was no way she meant it like it sounded. _It was just that bump on the head…she's a bit out of it that's all. _"Of course you do cagalli…we're family!" He smiled sweetly, at least until her rage built.

"Kira…you…idiot!" She was shouting every word now, the fact he was dense wasn't even an excuse by this point. She had tried to approach the subject gently and even ended up blurting out something she had kept to herself for a long time…and even then he couldn't understand. "Forget it! I'm feeling better…so I think ill rest in my room" Pulling back she slipped off the bed barely taking a step before his hand grasped her wrist "Cagalli…what's up with you? I don't get it…"

"Of course you don't! You wouldn't…" Cagalli had to bring her free arm up to wipe her eyes, trying not to break down. She had been so close…and yet he ruined it. She felt his hand tighten at her wrist and attempted to pull it free, only to have him pull her back to a sit on the bed. "Damit kira…"

He felt bad, really bad. Cagalli was probably one of the hardest people to upset to the point of tears, which he had managed to do in mere moments. "Look um…I don't want you crying…so just tell me what you're trying to say….slowly" He cringed as her fist hit his shoulder, much harder then her usual ones.

"I am not crying! I don't cry over stupid things…" when she was sure she couldn't get her arm free of his hand she decided to do the opposite of getting away from him, instead throwing herself into his chest, clinging to him with silent sobs. Her thoughts suddenly turned to the past, something she tried not to do…because it hurt. She had gathered a…crush on kira after they had met in the desert; he was always so selfless and kind…well except when he slapped her. And in reality it had all seemed fine, she had nothing to feel guilty about at that time.

Of course the first thing that threw her was flay…and her evil little grin. Everything about that girl pissed her off, mostly though it was the fact she had kira. Of course she could never understand how much he needed to be accepted then…she was a natural after all. She had backed off then, despite whatever she felt. It was when kira was thought to be dead, killed by his best friend. That's when she realized she needed him around her more than she thought…

After they found no trace of kira on that island…she was so ready to kill athrun, and she might have if she hadn't pictured kira's soft smile. She knew it wouldn't solve anything…and wouldn't make her feel any better, and worst of all it couldn't bring kira back. Athrun…she felt guilty about him a lot lately. With both flay and then lacus in kira's thoughts she fooled herself into going for athrun, the closest thing to kira in her mind. Although the closer she was to athrun, the worse she felt…she knew it wasn't what she wanted but it couldn't be helped.

After her father stayed behind and gave her that picture…she almost didn't show it to kira, but what choice did she have? She had cried then…in his arms to. Those tears had been not only for her adopted father, but for a love she never had and never could have. She hated to cry, and after that bottled most of what she had felt up. What cagalli did feel, she tried to write off as being his sister…but it was only a temporary relief.

When yuna had wanted to marry her, she actually found it as a way to escape the guilt with athrun…if she just blamed politics and necessity as a reason she couldn't stay with him then he couldn't be mad. Although the more yuna talked the more she realized he was a complete asshole. He actually suggested she grow her hair out longer. When she was kidnapped by kira things went crazy, everything she felt returned in a flash and suddenly she hated the fact he was taking her for different reasons then she wanted.

Although for all those times that drove her nuts she had her cherished moments…the face kira made when he saw her in that green dress, her hair pulled back made her heart race. She couldn't even control her blushing…of course he ruined it with his comments, but it was still there.

Suddenly pulling back from kira's comforting arms her face twisted into an exhausted frown, her eyes shifting to the side to a small table, counting the different medical tools "Cagalli come on, your scaring me. If you tell me what's wrong I can help"

"Help? It's your fault! All…your…fault. I wouldn't have…all these dam feelings. When those mobile suits shot me down and I crashed into that glacier I began thinking back to every moment we were together…" Her hands clutched the sheet below her with such force they turned white, tears threatening her amber eyes once again. Afraid that talking might ruin cagallis resolve kira stayed dead silent.

"I realized something then as I went down in the strike rouge…even as I started to pass out from hitting my head, my thoughts were clear. The only thing I want in this world…the only thing I need to keep me happy…and the only thing I live for…is you kira" The last part was so silent, such a quiet thing it shouldn't have even reached his ears…but it did, clearly.

He stared at her, and although he didn't look horrified he was defiantly shocked…wide eyes staring at her with such disbelief she began to get frustrated. With a low grumble her hands moved to the sides of his head, forcefully pulling his paralyzed form into a kiss. She kept it soft and tender, just barely touching his lips with hers and after a small moment pulled back slowly, resting her forehead against his with a small blush. "Look I know I'm no flay or lacus but-"

Her voice turned into a slow mumble before it disappeared, slowly returning the kiss he had moved in for. Her heart pounded with such a fury it actually hurt, but it was a lot better then the pain she had been living with before. Pulling away slowly his hand moved to her cheek, slowly caressing with one of those silly smiles on his face "I don't want you to compare yourself to anyone again…alright?" All she could do was nod.

For kira that kiss has snapped so many things into place, really it was all he needed to fully understand something he had felt for awhile. He knew he felt close to cagalli, but he hid his own feelings from himself so well he didn't even realize it was there or maybe it was denial. The churning in his stomach when he was with lacus kept trying to tell him he was in the wrong place.

The silence that filled the room wasn't uncomfortable, it was something welcomed. But their own discoveries were interrupted by murrues voice echoing through the halls from the intercom "Attention all personal, we have arrived at the mass driver. I ask everyone to make sure their secured in place"

"Um…I think we should head to the bridge" Slipping off the bed kira smiled slightly at the slight frown on cagalli "I'm not trying to avoid the situation, I promise!" Sighing she did the same, crossing her arms "Then how do you expect to explain this to people…?"

"Uh…do they really have to know I plan to date my sister?" He smiled slightly as she kept her gaze on him _eh…she's not blinking. Don't tell me she's mad again…_slightly unnerved he sighed "Can't we at least keep it quiet for a little while…you know, come up with a plan or something."

"Fine, but if we try to hide it to long then…if someone found out it would be VERY bad. So I'll leave the planning to you" Smirking she left through the door, kira quickly chasing behind "Hey wait a minute! That's not fair!" He groaned as she ran down the hall laughing "Cagalli!...dam"

* * *

A/N: Soooo? Soooo? I realize the beginning was sort of boring, but you know what…I'm proud of this chapter. To me it is the most complete one so far, although feedback on how it came back would be much appreciated. 


	6. Caught in the Middle

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 6: Caught in the middle

Disclaimer: Not mine, will never be mine, blah blah…are you as sick of reading these as I am of writing them?

A/N: Right, here we are again huh? Starting now Athruns coming around. This whole chapter will deal with him actually. Personality I don't like him…but I will try and mirror his personality. Consider this an alternate escape for him since this is no longer the original story line right?

* * *

Carpentaria base (Zaft)

As the archangel made its escape from the earth alliance chairman Durandal had easily continued his manipulation of the Zaft forces, to him it was just a game of chess…use your pawns to protect the king while you trap the enemy into making a mistake. It was all very simple, a few persuasive speeches about wanting to end war and bring about an age of complete peace. He never told anyone how he planned to do that of course.

The only thing standing in his way was the Archangel…that ship did not understand the meaning of quit. He had hoped the alliance would play into his hands and take them out for him…but he underestimated the power of kira, the so called 'ultimate coordinator'. That leads over to his friend...athrun zala. He wasn't being as cooperative as he had hoped, but that would all change soon enough.

Sitting down in a large seat he looked around the comfortable meeting room, the table in front of him neatly decorated with documents, a light at his side shining directly over the few he had yet to look over. Folding his hands neatly he watched the door at the other end of the room open, his favorite pawns athrun, shinn and rey walking in. "Ah welcome, I'm sorry to disturb your vacation"

When the three of them stopped at the chairman's desk, athrun couldn't help but frown "Excuse me sir…if I may ask what this is about?" everyone but athrun missed the smirk he gave, turning in his seat to look out the windows in the back. Staring out at the water he let out a long sigh "You have all been working so hard, and I am sure your efforts will be instrumental in protecting this world…but we have had some disturbing reports"

Turning back to look at his pilots the chairman leaned back in his chair slowly "Scouts have reported sighting the archangel causing trouble for the alliance, and have recently headed off into space. Unfortunately this means they may also cause trouble for us, considering their position in the last war."

Nodding his head rey smiled slightly "Are we to head into space to pursue the archangel? That would be a wise decision…" Groaning shinn turned to stare at the wall "I don't see the point of chasing after a bunch of dam idealists! They don't know anything!"

"Oh so I take it there would be no objections to the mission then? I have yet to inform Captain Gladys but-" Although it was later then expected athrun finally voiced his concerns "The archangel? They aren't here to cause problems…they just…they just don't understand what you're fighting for. I know them; I fought with them…all they want is peace!" Athrun had been…suspicious of Durandal for awhile, his words always sounded so correct and true, but they sounded to planned and his actions always left him a bit curious.

"Peace? They have seen the speeches and words I have given…if they really were after the same goals as I was wouldn't they have joined with us? Why would they continue to run and fight alone?" While athrun balled his fist, his mind running over every possibility he felt rey's hand on his shoulder "I heard you fought with them…but people change, you know what your fighting for now but they are just causing problems…"

"Very good, if they are no more issues then you are excused…enjoy the day I would like the Minerva to launch tomorrow afternoon into space." Shinn and rey nodded before leaving, but athrun simply gave a small glare standing still for a moment before heading through the door, closing it behind him. Frowning slightly Durandal pushed the intercom "Have some soldiers detain Athrun Zala for questioning…"

* * *

When athrun got back to his room, he passed the bed and dropped into the chair in front of the computer letting his fingers dart over the keyboard scanning the Zaft database for any sort of information that could help him explain the chairman's actions. When he found a file that looked promising a box popped up asking for a password "Dam…" He tried for a quite awhile to break through the security system, but his specialty was never hacking. "What do I do now…" 

Sighing he shook his head, staring at the dim light on the ceiling "Kira and the others can't be the ones wrong…I know them…they….they always know what there fighting for. I'm the one confused…is there something they see in Durandal I don't?" If he had known about the assassination attempt on lacus, athrun would have known something was out of place.

He let his mind wander to the past, despite the first wars deaths and horror it still held so many memories no one could forget. He could still remember having to fight kira on the battlefield…he didn't think he could handle going through that again. Athrun had hoped cagalli would have killed him once he told her kira was dead…by his hand to.

He could see the rage and despair at nicols death so clearly, the flying sparks and mobile suit pieces as he battled the strike, beam sabers taking each other apart bit by bit. The only reason he was even able to leave that battle with the aegis on self destruct was because all he was going on was anger. He knew nicol couldn't return, but he had an overwhelming desire for revenge.

The whole war was confusing to him…sides switching every second, emotions swirling around like an endless vortex. You never knew how someone would feel; they changed constantly...people changed. Even after he thought kira was dead, despite doing it without hesitation…he was devastated, it changed so suddenly it almost destroyed him.

Of course finding out kira was alive settled his stomache...even if it wasn't for awhile. Although imagine his surprise to find out his fiancé had purposely handed over the freedom to kira, he still had trouble with the idea he basically stole the heart of his fiancé…that meek kid who hated to fight. Of course he had eventually found cagalli…even if she always seemed to have this sad, distant face on every time he saw her…athrun had just figured she always had it on, never having a clue the reason was she had feelings for kira.

Meeting her on that island was so strange…and he felt horrible for thinking of her as a boy. Of course kira had told him in secret that many people did…and also made him promise not to tell cagalli in fear of another punch. She was the violent type sure…but cagalli always had a rather sweet side to, hidden behind an attitude only the lioness could hold as kira would put it.

Athrun had his thoughts interrupted when a hard knock on his door caused him to jump. Before he got up to answer it a voice shot through the room "Athrun Zala, this is the military police…we have been asked to detain you for questioning. Please cooperate." Growling lowly to himself athrun clenched his teeth whispering to himself "Dam…so he realized I am no pawn…" That was the final piece he needed to decide Zaft had taken a route he could not follow, or more importantly he wouldn't follow.

By the time the police had shot out the handle of his door, it had seemed to be empty. Two of them walked over to the window to check it, while the last stood behind them somewhat. Athrun was rather glad the ceiling light was bolted down tight, although when it got a bit to hot for his hands he jumped down kicking the third military soldier in the jaw.

By the time his comrades had turned to shoot athrun had taken off down the hall soon with two men chasing him, and backup probably on the way. _I need to get to the hanger or the harbor…but how_ Turning a corner he ran straight into Meyrin Hawke…knocking both of them down. Landing with a thud he quickly scrambled to his feet, opening his mouth to apologize but she beat him to it.

After standing up quickly, Meyrin had lowered her head blushing "S-sorry! It must be important if you're in a rush…I was just coming out of my room and wasn't paying attention commander…" The impact had caused athrun to forget about his pursuit team, but as their footsteps echoed down the other hallway he grabbed her shoulders quickly "Hurry!" Leading her back into her room, he closed the door quickly sliding down it once the soldiers went by _Dam they will probably check rooms soon though…_

As the silence filled the room like a cloud of smoke Meyrin finally gathered the courage to speak "Um…a-athrun? What's going on…?" Staring up at her for a moment he looked around the room…she was very conservative with only the basic stuff. She had a bed in the corner, a dresser across from that…a light on her desk which lay beside her bed. "Well it's a long story…"

From the way Meyrin looked at him he sort of figured it was impossible for him to get out of explaining…besides that she could easily turn him over to those soldiers "Well you see…" He took several minutes to explain all the different reasons he couldn't trust Durandal although he did so with great hesitation. He even explained how once the chairman realized he couldn't control him that he figured it would be easier to simply get rid of him.

"In the end…I have to get out of here." He wished he had remembered to bring a gun, but seeing as every soldier carried one he quickly went over to Meyrins desk, pulling the pistol he found out. "I need to barrow this…" Looking around quickly he headed for the window "I'm going to break through here…then you can scream and tell them whatever you want alright…?"

He stared at her once she gripped his arm, shaking her head "Wait! You said you were trying to get into those files r-right? I can help…" Booting up her computer she quickly accessed the restricted files, a skill she had to have being in information after all. Although she had trouble believing what athrun had been saying, while she downloaded the files into a disc she couldn't help but skim through them…horrified by some of the plans it detailed.

By the time she handed the disc over to him the police were at her door "Is anyone in there? We have orders to search the rooms. Open up or we will force the door open" Groaning slightly athrun took Meyrins hand quickly "Um….thanks for the help. Sorry" As another knock indicated the soldier's final warning she bit her lip slightly, grabbing his arm again "I don't want to be left behind…"

Nodding slightly he broke through the rooms window, shattered pieces of glass bouncing off the hard balcony before resting still. Stepping out he pulled her out next looking around quickly. Hearing the door smash open he quickly grabbed Meyrin around the waste, jumping off the second floor balcony. They landed in a bush, both crawling out grumbling "Athrun your insane!"

"No time!" Taking her by the arm again they ran down an ally, a volley of bullets chipping off part of the wall they just crossed. Before he could reach the end of the ally he heard more footsteps "Dam they cut us off…" He felt Meyrin clutch him before being pulled away from him…before he could respond he was pulled through an old door to his right landing roughly on the cold floor.

Closing the door quickly Yzak waited for the military to go by before punching the now standing athrun in the jaw, sending him stumbling back against the wall. "Athrun you asshole! I'm checking the equipment for my team when an order is passed to catch a traitor…who just happens to be you! What the hell is the meaning of this; I'll give you one chance to explain!"

Running to check athruns jaw meyrin helped him keep steady until the shock wore off "Yzak…look I'm sorry, but I can't stay with zaft…so either turn me in or don't. I can't trust Durandal as much as I thought…" He tried to explain his reasoning but yzak was rather stubborn. "Damit athrun how the hell am I supposed to believe all that!"

"Yzak please, you have to admit some of it sounds plausible!" They stared daggers at each other, sharp enough to cut steel "You know I wouldn't even think about helping you if you weren't a friend idiot. I can't say I believe all of this, but if Durandal turns out as bad as you're assuming you can count on my support."

"Yzak…thanks, I owe you one" Taking a peak outside for a moment the Joule team commander sighed. "You owe me more than one, now I'm going to create a distraction…steal an underwater mobile suit and I'll meet you 6 miles to the east. If you get pursued make sure you lose them before coming near my ship!" Without warning he punched athrun in the gut "Think of it as payment for the ride"

Athrun clutched at his chest while yzak left the abandoned home "He got stronger…" he waited there with meyrin until he heard the alarm system go off, tons of footsteps heading off past them before the sounds slowly dulled away to complete silence. "Alright come on…"

Despite the distraction there were still quite a few patrols around the base, causing them to move slowly and discretely until they finally made it to the harbor's storage unit. The first thing he saw was a Goohn, quickly making sure it had been serviced "Good it's still working…and they recharged the battery….quickly get in!"

Hesitating slightly Meyrin looked back. If she left she knew she could never return to Zaft…she would be a traitor. But she knew athrun was a good person even if they rarely talked…and he wouldn't leave without a good reason right? Finally deciding she pulled herself up into the cockpit before hearing several gunshots.

While she was attempting to get into the cockpit several soldiers had stumbled across them, a shot hitting athruns arm before he ducked behind a few metal boxes. Jumping out from behind his cover several shots sprinkled the ground he left behind, his form rolling behind the goohn's leg while shooting several shots. He took out two of the soldiers, the third hiding behind the room's door to call for back up and inform everyone they were stealing a mobile suit.

Making sure to open the submarine doors inside the harbor, athrun quickly made it into the mobile suit despite his injured arm "Move over please" Nodding slightly meyrin let him into his seat, moving over to the right of it to give him more room "Y-your hurt!"

"It's nothing…" Closing the door he adjusted the controls, quickly sending the mobile suit into a run. Dropping down into the water the propulsion system kicked in, sending the goohn soaring through the water. He thought he may have had a clear run to the rendezvous point but soon four other heat signals appeared on his monitor gaining quickly on him. His good hand darted over the controls, identifying them also as goohn's.

Realizing he wouldn't be able to handle the controls alone he pointed to the weapons systems "When I tell you to, hit some of those buttons" She stared at him blankly for a moment before giving a nod. "W-which ones?" She studied them slightly frowning.

"It doesn't matter, they all shoot something" The first two pursuers caught up, one of them launching torpedoes down at them, while the other did the same from underneath. Athrun pulled the mobile suit up, the missiles colliding with each other. The explosion sent them soaring backwards, the arms aiming towards the higher enemy "Hit them now!"

Once the weapons systems were pressed several torpedoes shot out of the arms, hitting the first goohn while a beam from the chest took out the second. "We got them!" Meyrin smiled slightly, before being thrown to the front when two missiles hit their back. Stabilizing the damage athrun prevented decompression, launching up through the water before charging straight at the third enemy. Dodging several shots he moved above a beam, punching the enemy backwards.

Blasting it away with the beam he narrowly dodged several more torpedoes, soaring under several beams until one took off their arm shattering several computers. He was barely able to cover meyrin from the explosion, several glass shards cutting into his back "Damit!" Closing off the right arm junction he adjusted the propulsion power.

Recalibrating the weapons, missiles soared past each mobile suit, the water pushing apart from each explosion. Hitting the enemy in the head with one, he charged forward jabbing the hand into the mobile suit launching several shots straight into the hull. It exploded in several places, the pressure causing it to collapse into itself.

Panting heavily blood slid freely down his arm, attempting to place the mobile suit on auto pilot. It wasn't long before the blood loss got to him, everything getting blurry until he finally collapsed against the controls before he was able to plot the suits coarse.

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A/N: And there's athrun, you'll see a bit more of him next chapter until we switch back to the archangel. 


	7. Infinite Space

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 7: Infinite space

Disclaimer: Is this really necessary? Does anyone actually read these anymore? I don't own a thing…except individual ideas I may have thrown in. Anyone who has seen gundam seed/destiny will know what's mine.

A/N: No authors note this time! Well technically this is one but whatever.

* * *

Green eyes slowly opened to a blinding light, his hand coming up to shield him. Letting his eyes focus athrun realized his other arm was in a cast and he had bandages around his chest. Sitting up quickly he ignored the blinding pain scanning the room for any sign of enemies with unfocused eyes…did they get captured? "Ugh…i feel like two zakus just tapdanced on my head" Reaching over to the side he found what was causing that dam light, quickly shutting off the lamp. 

"About time you woke up!" Yzak sighed strolling in calmly "I sat there waiting and waiting and suddenly a damaged goohn comes swimming by with some girl piloting it. She had no idea what she was doing, I'm surprised she got you two here safely. The thing was swerving in every dam direction"

"Meyrin…piloted us here?" When he got a nod to confirm it he layed back in the bed, groaning at the pain running through his arm "So where are we…?" Taking a seat near the bed yzak shook his head slowly "On my ship you idiot, you must have hit your head real hard. So what do you plan to do now? Were heading into space and I need to drop you off somewhere."

Sighing slightly athrun struggled to come up with an idea. He either needed to be dropped off in a city, or be let out in a mobile suit. "Well…do you think I could barrow a gouf or zaku?" His friend seemed to groan at that prospect "Damit athrun you can't stop asking me for favors can you! I guess I might be able to spare one, but only one! We'll let you off somewhere along are route to attack the archangel, I'm not sure if this ship will make it on time so I wouldn't follow us."

"Right…thanks yzak." Forcing himself to sit up, athrun cringed slightly. He had no idea he had been hit so hard, but he was alive that was more important. "Is meyrin alright?" He nodded again leaning back in his chair "yeah she's fine, she checks up on you a lot but beside that she insisted on helping around the ship until you guys take off. I hate stubborn girls…where the hell did you pick her up?"

"She's from the Minerva….and she still plans to tag along I guess…" He sighed slightly; he never wanted to get anyone mixed up in this own problems, it was a perfect time to stay with a zaft ship. Well it was still good to have support, and the fact she hacked into their computers would be hard to explain.

"We'll be heading into space soon, so get some more rest. Not my fault if you open your wounds again, and I sure as hell won't wrap them back up" Standing yzak gave a small half hearted wave before silently leaving the room. Trying to get himself to sit up again, he fell back down with a groan "Been awhile since I've been this hurt…Guess the archangel will have to wait" Closing his eyes he drifted off to a small nap.

* * *

Archangel Bridge

The trip into space was made without further incidents, but unfortunately they were still left without a plan or a destination. Standing from his seat in the back kira smiled "Murrue, maybe we should call the invisible…create some sort of joint plan? We don't exactly have one" Turning her head she slowly nodded, even if she didn't fully trust them.

"Send a message out to the invisible. Ask captain Rendell to come over to are ship, tell him we need to discuss strategy." When the message was under way murrue stood from the captain's chair. "If anything happens contact me" Pushing off from the ground she floated towards the door, opening it quickly. Staring over at kira and cagalli she smiled "You two might as well come to"

The three of them made their way to the briefing room in silence, and once the artificial gravity was on the only sound was the soft metallic footsteps echoing through the halls. Somehow the invisibles captain beat them there, already waving. A nervous mechanic nearby seemed to be the one who led him, and once seeing the captain quickly headed back to the hanger.

Surprisingly koji had come over alone, cagalli and murrue filtering into the room but kira quickly stopped koji "Hey…that pilot we fought down on earth. Did you get him?" He received a small frown in response, the usually upbeat pilot shaking his head grimly "Afraid not…he was tough. I held him off but that was it…expect to see him again" Sharing a sigh the two headed inside, closing the door behind.

"Sorry to call you here captain but we are at a loss of what to do now." A map of space appeared on the wall, her finger pointing to a spot just outside the debris belt "Zaft forces are gathering around here, most likely to capture us. And earth alliance forces will probably give chase from the moon anytime now."

Nodding slowly koji smiled "For one, just call me koji. Being called captain is way too formal, and as for where to go…best I could do is offer a way past the zaft main fleet" Studying the map slightly he pointed out a spot in the debris belt "Here, it's kind of close to the zaft fleet but it should offer enough cover to slip past them."

"Even if were in the debris there's no way they won't see us…" Chuckling softly koji quickly shook his head "That area is an earth alliance trap from the last war. It was to cover an escape if the moon was attacked. Parts of the debris in the area were replaced with asteroid shaped turrets, signals given off from earth alliance ships would trigger there activation."

Cagalli stared blankly towards the map "Turrets in the debris belts? I've never heard of such a thing! When did the earth alliance make those?" Sighing koji tried to rack his brain for the specifics "I think it was towards the end of the last war…one of the few smart moves they made. Since it was for escape, only higher level officers knew about it."

"But wouldn't zaft still be able to attack us? We don't exactly have the codes of the turrets…" kira spoke up quietly, trying to understand his reasoning. Nodding koji chuckled again "Are you guys forgetting my ship was once earth alliance? Every alliance ship has the codes, just most common soldiers don't know about them. Look just take us through the debris…it will be fine. Since the turrets have jammers they shouldn't see us."

With a slow nod murrue hesitantly agreed, he hadn't been wrong about the Antarctic base after all. "Well even if we do clear the debris without incident we still have no where to go. It won't be long before they pick up are signal after we leave the belt, and their fastest ships would be able to catch up with us."

"Well…what about Artinal?" cagalli blinked as everyone stared at her "What! It's a possibility right?" Sighing murrue examined the map, zooming in a spot past the Mendel colony "You know Artinal is completely neutral…they only let trading ships in, no matter how many injured people or damaged ships they have never let a military or civilian vessel into their space. After the incident with orb in the last war they buckled down even more."

Nodding koji leaned back in his seat "It's true that it would be safe there for awhile, but I don't think it would be smart risking heading there. If we reached their borders and were rejected zaft would easily pin us down and pick us apart."

"Yeah but its are only chance! Besides if the same person is still in command their shouldn't be any problems, he owes my father" Cagalli smirked slightly, watching the confused faces "Don't believe me? During the last way Orb and Artinal created a mutual assistance pact to maintain their neutrality. If one were attacked then the other would come to their aid"

Sighing kira shook his head "That was the last war cagalli…besides they never came to help orb did they?" He shut up when cagalli glared at him _guess she had more to say…_smiling slightly he let her continue. "Look they never came because the earth alliance had three fleets just outside their borders, the pressure left them unable to send help…that's why they owe my family one!"

Sighing murrue looked towards koji before turning back to the frowning cagalli "Well you sure seem to have connections with a lot of neutral nations…in the last war you got us into orb, after we escaped orb in this war we were sheltered by Scandinavia and now you know the leader of Artinal? Maybe you are a goddess of victory after all…" The table broke out in laugher at cagallis beat red face, her yelling falling on deaf ears.

"Damit stop laughing! Ugh you people are hopeless!" Crossing her arms she glared so hard that her eyes began to hurt, and still she kept at it until the laugher subsided "It's not funny you know…" She growled slightly, sighing when kira patted her shoulder "Were not making fun of you, you may have saved us"

"Well we might as well give it a shot, we will slip through the debris belt at that point…and head towards Artinal, once were in range I will send a message out informing him that cagalli requests we enter. If were lucky things will go good and they'll let us in, if not we will turn immediately and head to meet the eternal."

Once the plan was agreed on koji headed back towards the hanger, blinking as kira ran up beside him "Hey kid, did you need something?" Shaking his head kira sighed "No I just…what did you think of that alliance pilot? He's not a coordinator and yet…"

"Yeah I know what you mean, maybe he's one of the kids they used the drugs on…we can't be sure really I guess. Just watch your back; he seemed rather insistent on fighting with you." When they reached the hanger he stared down at the busy work "Artinal…I was born their you know"

Blinking kira leaned against the railing, staring down from the balcony they stood on overlooking the hanger "Really? I didn't know that…" Nodding koji let out a sigh "Sorry I don't mean to waste your time, I need to get going now anyway. Maybe I'll tell you about it another time!" With a smile he gave a quick wave, heading off to the shuttle.

"He sure is strange…maybe it's a difficult memory" Kira knew a lot about difficult memories, most of his life during the last war was painful thoughts. Trying to get used to the lack of gravity in the hanger he pushed off the ground, floating up to the freedoms cockpit. "I almost wish they hadn't turned on the artificial gravity in the ship…it's kind of fun to float around"

Smiling slightly he leaned back in the seat, starting up the OS. "Alright, have to adjust it for better space combat…" His fingers glided over the keys with an inhuman grace, scanning the computers for needed change "Thruster power +10 percent, stabilizer increase in rear thrusters. Recalibrate weapons for lack of gravity, velocity increase 15 percent. Response sensors increase for faster combat, reduce need for contact pressure"

Kira spent at least an hour completely redoing the OS, examining the mobile suit for any problems or potential ones. He hadn't even noticed cagalli float up, staring in with an impatient stare. She seemed to give him a few minutes to notice her, and when he didn't she caught his attention by force "hey! Kira why are you still in here!"

Staring up with a small yawn he blinked "Cagalli? I'm working on the freedom…I need it prepared for space combat. Better question, is why are you here yelling at me?" She glared before her gaze wandered "Well you see…I you know couldn't find you so…"

He chuckled softly putting his laptop aside for the moment "You know it sounds like you missed me…" her face twisted into a scowl, but it was quickly followed by a blush "Of course I didn't! Well maybe a little bit." With a soft smile kira pulled himself out of the seat, leaving the confines of the mobile suit "Well then maybe we should spend a little time together?"

Nodding slightly cagalli sighed, kira made it sound like she was desperate for attention or something. She would get him back for that later "Yeah…sounds good. Did you eat yet?" once he shook his head cagalli quickly pulled him away from the freedom "Well then let's get some lunch"

"Hey wait you don't have to drag me you know!" Sighing slightly kira made sure to keep pace with his sister, who showed no mercy in letting him fall behind. "Don't be so lazy; you walk like an old man" he had to endure the chuckles from everyone they went by, watching him get dragged to the cafeteria by his sister…well to everyone else she was his sister, to him she was more.

Cagalli finally let go of his arm once they arrived, his other hand rubbing the spot she gripped slowly "you didn't have to grip my arm so tight you know" Smirking she picked up one of the made meals "Don't be such a baby."

Sighing slightly kira picked one of the meals of the shelf, plopping down into a seat with a yawn "You don't have to be so mean about it you know…" He was glad there wasn't anyone else taking a break for food, since cagalli sat rather close to him. "Well if you weren't such a baby I wouldn't need to call you one right?"

Groaning he picked at his food slightly, he was hungry but just couldn't seem to get much down at the moment "So what do you know about Artinal? Have you ever been there?" Nodding slowly she took a few bites of food, smiling briefly "I went there once with my father when he was negotiating the assistance pact. He said it was vital steps to protect are neutrality but I wasn't too interested."

"So what's it like there? I never even heard about it…" He never really enjoyed the kind of food on the ship, and it was hard to get used to after the two years of peace. If he was lucky they could get some real food. "Artinal is…an interesting place. On the outside it looks more like a military fortress, but on the inside it's a beautiful city. I met the leader once, I thought he looked kind of scary at first…but he was a nice enough guy"

Smirking slightly kira took another bite of his food "Scared you? Wow he must really be scary looking then…does he have like half a metal head or something? A hook for a hand maybe?" He stopped immediately when she scowled at him, still chuckling slightly.

"You're such an idiot kira! Hopeless…" Finishing her food she put away her tray, moving to leave. "Oh come on don't be like that cagalli…" He sighed slightly, watching her leave "I'll have to apologize later…I guess I'm teasing her to much today."

* * *

A/N: And here's chapter 7, yes two chapters posted in one day amazing. Don't get used to it; this was a one shot deal. There will be a battle in the next chapter, three cheers. 


	8. Flight to Artinal

Undeniable Truth  
Chapter 8: Flight to Artinal

Disclaimer: I don't own.

A/N: I present to you the next chapter. And sorry for a…major delay.

* * *

With cagalli a bit angry at him, kira found the best thing he could do is get some rest and let her cool down. With sleep coming in very small quantities lately any free time you could find was best used for sleep. Unfortunately he hadn't slept long before he woke, an unusually cold feeling running through him. "When did it get so cold…" blinking he spotted his blanket huddled up on the other side of the bed.

Yawning he quickly pulled the blanket over him, laying down to catch a bit more sleep. He jumped up again as his blanket was forcefully yanked off of him, once again huddled in the corner…except this time he could see the head of blond hair. "Cagalli! Give me the blanket!" Getting a groan in response he attempted to pull it away from her again, only to find her to have a rather tight grip. "Don't tell me you're still mad"

"I might be…" She grumbled at his persistent attempts to take the blanket away from her, holding on to the precious warmth tightly. "Who said you could hop in my bed anyway. When I tried it you knocked me off" Afraid of ripping the light sheet he let go, allowing her to curl up into it. _well this isn't fair…_

"We weren't together when you slept in my bed. It's different." Unable to sleep through his whining she turned towards him "Be quiet now will you, I'm trying to sleep!" kira stared at her with such disbelief, how could she tell him to be quiet when it was his room and his bed to! "Then give me the blanket, I'm cold!" Laying back down he gave her a pout, something only he could pull off with such effect between the two.

"Don't be such a baby" Sighing she slid her body across the bed until her body rested comfortably next to his, resting her head against his welcoming shoulder. Throwing the blanket across both of them, a frown appeared slowly "There is that better?"

Blushing slightly he responded with the slowest nod manageable "Yeah…that works I guess." Although cagalli seemed more than comfortable, almost to the point of sleep again he was nervously staring around his room deciding on things that needed cleaning. Kira wasn't quite used to their new relationship, he liked their new closeness but his mind still was overcoming his original mindset of her being his sister.

"Hey cagalli…your not still mad about all the jokes before are you?" He followed her eyes slow movement to look up at him, a frown once again crossing her lips. "I don't stay mad over stupid jokes, and they were stupid." Sighing softly she leaned up "And when I left the cafeteria, you could have at least tried and stop me" Her breathing was slow and steady, but she was close enough so that it brushed over his cheek slightly causing a small shiver.

"Um…I didn't know I was supposed to" It didn't take long to realize that wasn't the right answer, thinking quickly kira sat upwards slightly claiming her lips in a soft kiss. Cagalli fell into it quickly, returning the gesture with a great amount of passion. A simple roll placed kira on top, the simple kiss easily becoming desperate and heated. With great effort he pulled himself away from her, smiling sweetly "I'm sorry, I need to get down to the hanger"

With a quick kiss he rolled off her looking for his uniform, cagalli let out a deep sigh moving to the edge of the bed and placing her head back down with a pout "You never told me that before…" Finding his clean uniform in a drawer kira quickly threw it on "I know, it was a last minute assignment since we will be at Artinal soon. Get some more rest and I might make it up to you"

With a quick kiss he was gone, running down the halls trying to straighten out his uniform. "Murdoch is going to kill me for being late again!" His footsteps echoed through the silent halls, most of the crew was allowed time to rest until they reached enemy airspace. Kira of course…was just told to wake up earlier. "Sometimes I think they are trying to overwork me on purpose…" Breaking into a run he made it to the hanger in record time, staring down at the busy technicians from an overlooking balcony.

Before he could even catch his breath Murdoch had spotted him "Hey kid! You're late again! How can we expect to keep your mobile suit in top shape without you?" Sighing kira made his way down the stairs, rubbing the back of his head nervously "Well…I sort of overslept again. Why didn't you call me on the video phone and scream or something?"

"Well I tried, but when the screen came up it looked like you had company" Smirking slightly the head technician smiled "I couldn't see who it was but I think I can guess!" Sighing his relief he made a mental note to be more careful with cagalli staying with him, maybe he would shut off the video phone "I don't know what you're talking about!" Waving kira headed for the base of the freedom, going over the desired specs and a few adjustments they had planned.

Pulling himself up into the cockpit he pulled his laptop up from under the seat, hooking it into the system "Alright time to make adjustments"

* * *

Time seemed to go by rather quickly during his routine maintenance of the freedom, but he was completely surprised by murrue calling his name from below. Peeking out of the cockpit kira quickly set aside his laptop, lowering himself down to the ground "Is something wrong murrue? You usually don't come down to the hanger"

Smiling the kind captain gave a small shrug "Just checking up on all of you down here, I know you probably haven't slept much lately. Even Murdoch is dosing off a bit…" Nodding slowly, the young pilot looked over to the tech sitting in his chair, head resting against a large crate. "Yeah…well we are managing."

"When we get to Artinal I promise you will all have some time to rest. Well that's if we are welcome there anyway…" Before she could start to ask kira how he was taking everything, the now awake Murdoch jumped up "Captain Murrue! A phone call from the bridge sounds important to!"

Sighing she turned around, rubbing her eyes before walking off towards the phone. "I guess the techs aren't the only ones who aren't sleeping much." Many people didn't appreciate the work she put in, or the hours…but most people tended to worry about the work they got instead of the work she had to do.

It wasn't long until she had headed back over to him, a small frown on her face "Kira…I hate to do this but…" From the look on her face he knew exactly what was happening "You need me to pilot…tell me what's going on"

Nodding murrue handed him the clipboard she had hastily scribbled the message on "Seven scout GINN's within the debris belt…well I'm guessing they aren't looking for earth alliance ships." Sighing he handed the board back to her "Murrue…I'm going to let one get away"

She stared at him like he was nuts "What are you talking about kira? That's suicide!" Smiling he shook his head "I trust koji…if we lure a good portion of the fleet into the trap then we can weaken them a great amount for later. It may make the trip a bit harder but…they were bound to chase us anyway right?"

Nodding slowly she considered the highly unorthodox idea, she didn't trust koji completely…but she did trust kira. "Well alright, just be careful kira…if we lose you all this is pointless"

"Don't worry about me, I will do my best to protect this ship and everyone on board" Bringing himself back up to the cockpit he began the launch preparations.

Frowning murrue headed back towards the bridge "I wish he would care a bit more about his own life…" She would let kira take down 6 scouts…then sound the alarm for battle stations. But first she would make sure to contact the invisible.

* * *

Debris Belt

Although the archangel still had a minute or two before reaching the dangerous part of their idea, kira had already set up his ambush for the first of the scouts. Looking at his thermal radar he planned his attack "Alright…just need to wait for the first one."

The freedom lay perched behind a few of the floating asteroids…if they were turrets they sure looked like real space rocks. The first two GINN's went by him, it was obvious they didn't expect to find anything…he wasn't hidden that well. Engaging the thrusters he sped out, the first enemy turning to look at him in time to see the beam saber cut through the mobile suits chest.

Kira sighed at the following explosion; although he did try to spare as many people as possible it was impossible by now. The soldiers wouldn't last long stranded in space, and he doubted they would prefer a slow death. Beam rifle in the other hand he fired off three shots, two tearing through the arms of the ginn, the other going straight through the cockpit.

His thrusters launched him upwards in a spiral, beam rifle and machine gun fire pelting the asteroids around him. The zaft pilots were growing rather impatient "Damit! This kids fucking fast, Couger! Dean! Return to the ship!"

Screams filled his intercom as the soldier dean got hit with 6 separate beams. Kira decided to let the second one go, and concentrated on the remaining three. One of them attacked from the back of him, kira launching his bottom thrusters sending the freedom into a back flip over the attack, his own saber slicing through both arms of the scout.

Launching forward at top speed he sent his knee into the sixth one before launching upward to avoid an attack from the squads leader, which unfortunately killed his own man. Letting the anger get the better of him the last scout charged recklessly, swinging his saber in random directions hoping to hit the quick freedom.

Dodging without issue kira ducked under one, thrusting his saber straight through the scout. Backing off he closed his eyes to avoid watching the explosion that followed. Contacting the archangel he reported his success "Everything's in place murrue, how are things on your end?"

"Well…I suppose their fine, but I still don't like his plan" Smiling at the pilot she shook her head "never mind my doubts, koji said he has the codes ready to enter and will launch to back you up as soon as we clear the belt. He has to enter the ID of are ship and your mobile suit first though."

"Right, I will hold them until then" Murrue sent him the enemy numbers, and it seemed they were sending a good half of their fleet towards them. Entering the planned path for the archangel he waited patiently along it, the two ships appearing through the asteroids.

"Well here we go…" They made it halfway through the belt without any problems, the freedom hovering alongside the great white ship. But that silence was just the eye of the storm, the first of the Nazca class ships appearing through the endless sea of rock. "Murrue it's time"

Nodding she closed the video to the freedom "Alright everyone! We need to get through this debris as fast as possible, only fire the small weapons…I don't want you blowing up any asteroids!" The asteroids were perfect to take hits, even if it did provide a danger to the ship as well.

Taking in a deep breath kira prepared for the upcoming battle. He could already see the first mobile suits leaving the enemy ships. "Murrue! I'm heading out to distract them, tell koji to initiate the start up of the turrets!"

Not even bothering to wait for a response he took off, completely stunning one of the advancing mobile suits by taking off the head. Kicking off one of the asteroids he avoided several beam blasts, his own beam rifle quickly firing off several rounds.

The smoke from the three enemies he hit covered him, launching through the smoke at full speed it was sucked into the trail behind him. Dodging several blasts with great speed he flipped himself around, launching beam blasts through the arms and legs of two zakus.

Taking cover behind an asteroid he felt the impact from the rounds of fire being unloaded into it. An impulse cannon from a blue zaku burned straight through the rock within seconds, the freedom already gone. "Where did it go? Did I get it?"

The freedoms beam saber quickly sliced through the frames of several zakus, dodging volleys of fire from the zaft soldiers. Turning quickly the blue zaku fired off another blast, the freedom pulling up quickly. "That must be the general…" The front of the freedom sparked slightly, kira having just barely avoided the powerful blast.

Flipping around he was able to block a zakus tomahawk with his shield, pushing the mobile suit back and quickly cutting it apart with his saber. Pulling up again he dodged a third shot from the impulse cannon, shooting forward towards the enemy pilot with all haste.

Just before the zaft general got another shot off he pushed his beam saber into the gun, backing off as the gun exploded. Still far from beaten the now one armed zaku pulled out his tomahawk lunging forward with a downward slash. While he was dodging several asteroids were blown apart from missiles launched towards the freedom, pieces of rock crashing into the freedom sending it backwards.

"Alright didn't expect that…" Sighing kira was glad the damage was limited to minor dents. "Why aren't the turrets online yet…?" More mobile suits left the ships, which were by now pelting his location with machine gun and missile fire, making it so the freedom couldn't sit still.

Catching a small missile to the left shoulder, it no longer had the strength to hold the shield up, causing him to abandon it quickly. "This could be bad!" kira was left dodging rounds of fire, only to notice two long barrels emerging from a rock near him "What the…"

Without warning the two barrels charged and fired, the beams going straight through 3 zakus. He was relieved to have the help, suddenly beam fire erupting from areas all around the enemy ships picking them apart one by one leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Taking out a few stragglers kira pulled the freedom back.

Returning to the ship kira landed on top near the archangel's bridge, the ship clearing the debris belt along with the invisible. He suddenly noticed koji's shadow breaker launch from the black ship, his face appearing on his screen "hey hope you're not to tired kid! We still have some more fun!"

Chuckling softly kira rested his head against the seat "Only you would be able to smile about this koji…we will be lucky to get through this" Smirking the young captain gave a shrug "Hey, I am one of the luckiest people you will ever find! I get out from anything"

* * *

Close to Artinal borders

The archangel had made it close to Artinal, but it wasn't long before the other half of the zaft fleet had caught up, seven ships coming up on their rear at top speed. It was mere moments before the two ships were swarmed by mobile suits, kira and koji trying to counter the heavy assault.

Although at first things seemed well, kira was caught by surprise by two of a new prototype mobile suit. One in all black, another was all white. "New mobile suits huh…? Koji! I'll take them, protect the ships!" Launching forward he stopped when the enemy contacted him, two kids no older then 14 staring at him. It was obvious they were twins, he couldn't tell the difference between the boys.

"So you're the famous yamato are you?" The two boys smirked, the second one speaking up "Well let's see how you can handle us!" Breaking the signal the two charged at him in unison. Dodging beam sabers from both of them, he ducked under another attack. Thrusting backwards he watched them split apart and attack his sides, kira just barely dodging "Damn their fast, and they move exactly the same!"

When one attacked, the other twin would act like a mirror image striking from the other side. They fought in perfect unison, striking without hesitation or fear. Although kira was sure he could take one of them on, two left him unable to counter attack.

Dodging several more slashes he kept his distance, trying to pick them off with his beam rifle. The two kids closed in on him, one slash being dodged by kira while the other destroyed his beam rifle. Launching upwards he found himself quickly outmatched, the two kids closing in on him and taking off one of the freedoms legs.

Backing up kira panted heavily, straining himself to keep from being destroyed. His machine was sparking and all he had left was a beam saber. "These kids are amazing…and those mobile suits can keep up with the freedom." Soaring forward he tried an offensive approach.

On the bridge things were no better, the archangel under heavy bombardment from both ships and mobile suits. Although murrue was keeping control, if Artinal refused to allow them entrance they would surely be obliterated. "Fire the anti-beam charges now! Cover fire to port, evade those beams!"

"Captain, missiles coming in on are engines!" the soldiers were close to a panic, the situation turning worse by the minute. "Igelstellung's shoot down those missiles!" The machine gun fire knocked out all but two, the lone survivors veering off course and smashing into the left side of the ship. Flickering lights and a strong rocking of the ship knocked a few people off balance.

"We are in range to contact Artinal captain, should we send the message out yet?" Sighing slightly murrue tried to clear her head, the stress defiantly getting to her. "Yes please, start it now" with a deep breath the exhausted captain picked up the phone next to her seat.

"This is captain murrue ramius of the independent ship archangel. Under requests from Cagalli Yula Athha, Chief Representative of orb we request permission to enter Artinal. Please respond immediately, your decision is of the utmost importance to the safety of this crew." Placing the phone down nervously she hoped the request sounded formal enough.

Silence filled the bridge while the ship shuddered under another hit, each person slowly losing hope that Artinal would respond to their call. Heads whipped around as the bridge door slid open, a frustrated cagalli storming in and quickly grabbing the phone "As chief representative of orb I demand an answer to are request immediately! Or will you leave people from orb to fend for themselves again!?"

Sighing murrue rubbed her temple "Cagalli…that was uncalled for" Throwing the receiver down she crossed her arms defiantly "Trust me, it will work" It was only moments before the sound of a response filled the quiet room "This is General Kakemono of the third Artinal defense force. I wish to inform you to stand by and wait for assistance, and please understand the trouble you may be causing for us."

* * *

Kira wasn't aware of artinals acceptance of their request; instead he was forced to fight for his life. Dodging several attacks he threw himself forward, taking out an arm of the black one while losing one of his shoulder guards.

Sighing kira showed a small smile "Figured it out…" Charged at the white one he dropped below a slash, easily dodging the other twins attack. "If their attacks are in perfect unison, I don't have to watch both of them." Before he could try out his theory his radar picked up multiple objects approaching fast, turning he jumped when 8 mobile suits flew past him blowing through 6 zakus and forcing the twins to retreat.

Before being able to ask what happened, murrues relieved voice came through the speaker "Hey kira, return to the ship…I think we made it" Leaning back in his chair and placing the freedom on autopilot, he closed his eyes with a sigh. "Looks like we made it through another one freedom…" his eyes tiredly watched the approaching artinal battleships, making sure no zaft soldier survived to tell the tale of their escape.

* * *

A/N: Alright, not my best chapter but still pretty good. Review for me , the last part was a bit rushed…but the battle scenes were less descriptive on purpose. 


	9. Freedom

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 9: Freedom

Disclaimer: I do not, shall not, and never would want to own the wonderful gundam seed/destiny series…I would only screw it up. I simply write to explore my ideas in the universe. Got it? Alright! Good!

A/N: Hello my friends and welcome back! I hope you enjoy my next installment. At the end of this chapter will be something new I'm trying called "mind of an author" I'm using it to get some things off my chest and free my mind, now keep in mind you have no obligation to read it.

* * *

_And endless sea, a starlit ocean of darkness. The smallest light being consumed and swallowed in the abyss, fields of broken metal and deceased pilots floating aimlessly through this sea, no captain to guide them and no hope of life. And yet…kira still breathed, still hoping for an end to these tragedies. A single life spared amongst the turmoil. "Where am I…?"_

_Sighing kira drifted among his enemies and his friends, familiar and foreign bodies passing by his tear stained eyes. "When did…this happen?" A small light, a single flicker soared towards his small form lost within the graveyard. Slender arms so soft and warm surrounding his waist "Who are you…?"_

_A simple smile was his only response to his question, further confusing the disoriented pilot. "Relax kira; you have no reason to cry…no reason to be depressed. People wait for you…want you back with them." He noticed the blurry image growing stronger, becoming clearer in his eyes. "What do you mean…? Everyone is…" _

_Kira could see the person holding him, no longer and outsider in this mind. "Kira…it's alright, I will always protect you…besides, this is but a fading dream" Closing his eyes kira could hear a voice cutting through the darkness…so far away but getting so much closer. "My name…someone's calling my name"_

_Smiling sadly the girls form gave a small nod "I told you people wait for you…but I guess one can not wait…" A small smile left him "I think it's my lioness…" Staring off into the distance he watched the darkness give way to a powerful light, absorbing the once unstoppable darkness. "Flay…I'm sorry"_

* * *

"Kira! Damit wake up will you!" Clutching to his uniform she jerked his body, she knew he was alive…but the brat just wouldn't wake up! Finally his eyes pried open ever so slowly, his head falling back to look at the ceiling of the freedoms cockpit. "I must have fallen asleep…" Looking back down he first noticed the frustrated but very relieved cagalli, and behind her their good captain murrue.

"Welcome back kira" Smiling softly murrue noticed the small look he gave her and with a silent nod she headed to the base of freedom. With possible witnesses gone cagalli wasted no time, diving into his arms and forcing kira into a fierce kiss.

Being pressed back into his seat kira had little choice but to return his sisters affections, pushing forward slightly against her lips. Sliding his hands to his cheeks they began a slow caress, his tongue caressing her lower lip for a moment before quickly pulling away with a flushed face. Breathing deeply cagalli quickly looked to make sure no one saw that before noticing the tears still in kiras eyes "Were you…crying?"

Jumping slightly kira wiped his eyes, a sad smile crossing his lips "Oh, I was…dreaming. I guess I didn't notice the tears…" Sitting up properly he sighed slightly "I'm a bit uncomfortable in here, think you can let me out?" Nodding slowly his delightful sister moved out of the cockpit and to the side, letting his tense form pull out and lean against the damaged frame of the freedom. "We made it to Artinal huh?"

"Sort of, we are being escorted there right now…" Looking off to the side a bit kira allowed himself a nice stretch before noticing murrue still waiting below. "Looks like the captain wants to see me…" Managing a slight smile he kissed cagalli quickly "See you in a bit" Without waiting for her obvious protest kira lowered himself to the cold steel hanger.

With an apparently tired look murrue motioned towards the exit, striding slowly towards it with kira advancing at her side. "Well kira…you did it again, I have to admit there was some doubt in my mind with the plan…" The halls seemed dark, the majority of people either leaving to get some sleep or meeting someplace to talk about what would happen. Examining the floor intently he let out a low groan "I guess I did to…things seem to be getting out of my hands now…"

With minor surprise murrue placed a hand on his shoulder "What do you mean kira…? It's not like you to doubt your abilities." Stopping at one of the port observation windows he stared out at the void of space "I know, it just seems I can't keep things in control anymore…The enemies are getting stronger, it might not be long till I can't keep up."

Leaning against the glass the good captain shook her head slowly "Your heart will always be bigger than them kira. As long as you have that, I have complete faith in you. So just relax a bit…your worrying a lot of people." It was obvious kira's mind was not completely present, his eyes staring off into the distance of space until a huge object came into view snapping him into reality. "Huh? What is that thing?"

Turning her gaze murrue smiled slightly "That's the flag ship of the Artinal defense force, five times the size of any existing space ship…it's got a lot of fire power and armor but it's kind of slow. Now don't change the subject, stop worrying everyone won't you?"

Thinking it over for a moment a tiny smile crossed him "Well I suppose, but only if you take care of yourself to. Your way overworked…" Scowling slightly she nodded her agreement "Fine, but I shouldn't have to make deals with you"

Glancing around him kira enjoyed the silence of the ship, he had little time to just think lately and it was kind of nice. "Well you're to stubborn to do it without making one isn't that right…?" Frowning again murrue crossed her arms defiantly with a long sigh "You are hopeless kira…well; I have a ship to command…so make sure you take a break."

* * *

Artinal Space Port

The rest of the trip into Artinal went without issue, as expected when escorted by a neutral nation's space fleet. The two mismatched ships were brought to the massive colony, where they docked easily in the heavily defended military sector. Cagalli had definatly been right; it looked like a military fortress made to repel attacks.

As the crew of both ships left, soldiers were waiting patiently for there expected arrival…and unlike most places where they would look stern while taking every precaution imaginable to try and get them arrested; the Artinal forces were polite and kind. The commander of the group addressed them immediately.

"Welcome to Artinal, I am in charge of your ground escort. We will take care of all your ships repairs and even re-supply your ships as necessary. Once we reach the shuttles you will be lowered into the city and after a small meeting with are leader, you are free to explore as you wish. Accommodations will be prepared at the main government building; we hope you will be able to get as much rest as you need."

Gasps and cheers erupted amongst the overworked groups of people, gossiping about what they think it will be like to stay in such a peaceful place. Some worried whether the entire colony looked like military instillations. Kira on the other hand didn't really care, and neither did cagalli once he agreed to let her stay in his room.

"Kira! This is going to be great, finally a break!" Smirking cagalli threw her clothes bag into kiras hands, letting out a long sigh "And maybe…we could go out and see the city…" Almost loosing his balance from catching the bag, he finally relaxed and lugged it over his shoulder. "Sure thing cagalli, but then do you think I could get some sleep"

Stretching out her arms cagalli pushed a strand of blonde hair back "We'll see kira, depends on how well you treat me" Pouting slightly he followed her to the shuttles "That doesn't seem to fair, I could always lock you out of my room and get my sleep that way"

Cagalli stared at her brother, the look of astonishment quickly left her face. "That's just plain cruel kira! Humph, fine I will let you get your precious sleep, but only after some time out okay?" Smiling quickly he gave an appreciative nod. The crew embarked on the shuttled, going deep into the colony until reaching a magnificent city. Forests and parks bordered the enormous metropolis, clear sparkling rivers running between many of the buildings. Fountains, town squares and shops scattered evenly throughout the land. It was easy to tell it was untouched by war.

"Whoa, I don't remember it being so beautiful!" Cagalli pressed her face against the window, examining the ground below eagerly. Chuckling kira shifted to look outside with her, smiling softly "I thought you were here before" Nodding quickly she pulled back from the glass a bit "Yeah, but I was a bit young…couldn't really remember what it was like"

The shuttle landed comfortably at a small outpost, where the two captains and the important crew got taken away in cars to meet Artinals leader, while the other lucky crew members got to go out and explore immediately. Both kira and cagalli were required to go to the government building.

The cars pulled silently up to a huge mansion, a variety of people walking in and out of the front doors…some looking like common citizens, others in suits and even many in military uniforms. The entire group was led to a large waiting room where they were called in small groups to meet the leader.

It had started with the lower members, giving kira plenty of time to talk things over with koji and the others. A future military plan was the first topic, but it quickly moved into what people were going to do in the city.

Unfortunately less then 15 minutes in koji and star were called as the next group, and many other people he had been talking to went next. Groaning cagalli moved back with kira once murrue was called, laying her head against his shoulder with a sigh "Wake me when I'm called…"

Sighing kira didn't even have time to respond before she was out like a light "She's so cute while sleeping; nothing like the pain she is when awake." He had to chuckle picturing the hit he would have received if she hadn't been in a peaceful trance. Placing his arm comfortably around her shoulders he layed his head back with a small yawn, drifting off to asleep within moments.

* * *

Two hours later

"Mr.Yamato please wake up, it's time to go" eyes slowly pulled themselves open, blinking away the blurriness in his sight kira sat up straight. "Huh…? Where am I?" In front of him was a young attendant, his sister still curled up against his side. "S-sir? Did you forget…you're at the Artinal government building…um; it's time for your meeting."

Sighing slightly his arm lifted, allowing him to check his watch "What!? It's been two hours…?" cagalli shifted at his side, grumbling about him making to much noise. "Y-yes sir…yours and Miss atha's meeting were an hour ago, but Mr. takaru insisted you be allowed rest and postponed it…"

Still with half open eyes, the drowsy pilot shook his sister slowly. "Cagalli…come on get up" a short sigh drifted past his lips before kira began shaking her harder, only to have her hand shoot up and smack him directly in the face. "Ow! Get up right now cagalli!"

A few moments passed until her eyes slowly opened, already formed into a glare towards kira. Rubbing his abused cheek he returned her glare, standing up with quiet grumbling. Cagalli finally realized what was going on, noticing no one but them left in the waiting room "Oh! It's time for the meeting…? What are you grumbling about kira?"

Frowning slightly he shook his head slowly "You hit me in the face, that's what I'm grumbling about" blinking towards him several times she made a small smirk "Did I…? Well sorry about that, let's get going!" jumping up cagalli latched onto his arm, quickly following after the scurrying attendant once he left.

The pair was lead down never-ending hallways, each one leading into a brand new hall. Kira actually considered asking if they were lost, but the attendant just kept walking through the halls without hesitating. Eventually they skidded to a halt in front of a plain metal door, the young man tapping his hand against it twice with an audible rattle.

A deep voice sounded from the other side "Ah, let them in please!" wrapping his hand tightly around the knob he twisted it open, standing aside for the twins "Please go right in" Nodding to each other they entered the room together, quickly and silently examining it.

A fire place lay against the south wall, burning brightly with small flickers of flame spreading off from the middle. Pictures lined the sides of the walls facing towards the long table in the center. It was obvious from its appearance that this was a meeting room, the north wall held a large monitor where a single man stood in front of it watching chairman Durandal make a speech about logos, the supposed true enemy of the people.

"Tsk tsk…like Durandal is any better than the logos…" The man spoke to himself in a quiet but deep voice, the metal door closing causing him to turn his head towards the rooms back. Noticing the two twins he smiled slightly "Well if it isn't Cagalli, I haven't seen you since you were a child" Turning himself completely around he gave a heartwarming smile.

Smiling a bit cagalli quickly crossed the room, kira coming up slowly behind her "I thought you might still be in charge! Thank you so much for letting us in to Artinal…" the mans face turned into a sad smile, his body turning to look at the pictures along the wall "Don't be silly…we were such cowards in the last war that we abandoned Orb in it's time of need…this isn't even close to making up for such a betrayal"

"That's absurd takaru! You couldn't help since the earth alliance had you completely surrounded!" Giving an appreciative nod his smile brightened slightly "Even so, we owe you a lot…you can expect my full cooperation in anything you need. And I guess this must be your 'kidnapper'" his gaze shifted to the silent kira behind her.

Frowning cagalli pulled him in front of her to meet takaru "You don't actually believe those stories do you? He's my...brother" she had been more than close to introducing him as her boyfriend. With a small chuckle the kind leader offered his hand to kira, who took it slowly. "Of course I don't, no one would kidnap a stubborn kid like cagalli without knowing her personally."

Kira smiled slightly, shaking the older mans hand quickly "I'm kira yamato, it's nice to meet you sir" gesturing his agreement takaru released the firm handshake "Of course, likewise. I have heard a lot about you two lately…the god of war and the goddess of victory"

The two teens cheeks lit up slightly, kira quickly showing his confusion "W-what…?" Chuckling slightly the man took a seat at the end of the table, shaking his head slowly "We have a lot to discuss…please take a seat"

* * *

A/N: Yes, I am ending this chapter there. Well there finally at Artinal so you can expect a small break from action for some good ole R&R and some romance of course. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter; really I do…please review to show your support, criticisms or undying affection. Now, right after this authors note is a new thing I'm trying out to help jumble my thoughts a bit. You don't have read it if you don't want to, it's my way of getting things stuck in my head out and maybe talk a bit about why I do what in my fanfics. If you ask any questions I feel are too important to be answered in a review response, they will get answered in the next section of my chapters.

Mind of an Author

Alright, the first thing I want to do is talk about the way I started this chapter…the dream kira had. Sometimes I get the feeling people don't really understand the impact flay had on his life. If you remember, before flay he was simply a coordinator to many people except his friends and a few choice people. Flay gave him courage, motives and well…was also the first girl he slept with incidentally. Chances are she would stick with him for the rest of his life, even though he has moved on her memory is still there. Now towards the end of gundam seed you may remember the ghost like flay, well think of the dream as him remembering her promise to protect him…and taking happiness from that fact. Any more questions on this may be asked of course. As you can see with kira and cagallis relationship, his memory of flay isn't affecting his connection with her. And you may notice a bit of a love-hate relationship between them, they have their flaws…kira can be a bit of a baby, and cagalli a bit mean…but they work through that and accept it. I'm trying hard to show that…

The next thing I want to say has nothing to do with my fanfic, but it does have relevance to gundam seed. I read an article recently about a couple who had a gundam seed wedding, they cosplayed and had a zaku has the doorman. Haru was the ring bearer, and kira and lacus were the bride and groom. The flower girl was cagalli I believe. They invited the entire anime convention they had attended as well; I found this very interesting just by the shear passion they showed for anime. Quite the flattery I must say, I guess gundam seed has hit a lot of peoples hearts…including mine. Well anyway farewell.


	10. Healing Touch

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 10: Healing Touch

Disclaimer: I do not own gundam seed, does that disappoint anyone? It's still my dream to write the script for one though. Maybe one day...

A/N: Welcome back my friends, here comes chapter 10 in my tribute to kira and cagalli. Since we are at the 10 mark the chapter will be extra long (Twice as long at least, maybe three times). Hope you have enjoyed it so far, and hopefully will continue to enjoy it. I will warn you now, in the story there is a lemon…which of course means incest. So yeah, read if you'd like or skip it. But if you have a problem with it, please tell me instead of getting the story deleted please. It would be very considerate.

Dedication: To Inulover4eva (you probally know her), an inspiration all in her own this fic would not even exist without her support and ideas carrying it chapter to chapter. Well you know where I'm going with this, thank you for bringing this fic to life.

* * *

The aging leader of Artinal took his seat at the head of the table, kira and cagalli sitting down along the right side. "You looked as surprised about your nicknames as I did when I first heard. The news here enjoys over using them I would say" 

At one time kira had found cagallis nickname cute, but when hearing his own he just felt like a heartless murderer "…How would Artinal know about everything anyway? I mean I'm sure your news crews can't just go visit battlefields. You are supposed to be neutral after all."

"That's very true, and although I do try and stop them…a few reporters do tend to sneak off on trading ships. It does provide a good source of information though, and thankfully that information has provided great insight into this war." Cagalli stayed silent for most of the small bits of conversation, takaru always did have a tendency to seem secretive even when she was a child. Every time he would appear to have some broad range of knowledge no one else did, but it did mean he was a great help as well.

Interrupting her brothers attempt to respond she leaned forward in her chair slowly "And what is this so called great insight you found exactly? It could be a great help to us." Smiling takaru gave a short nod, as if he was expecting the question "of course, of course. I found out many small details, but the one major thing I have found is the existence of something far worse than zaft or the earth alliance. Durandal who leads zaft, may have an agenda we do not want to follow but his power is limited. Logos or as you know them, merchants of death appear to manipulate this war on paper…throwing their money around for more profit."

Once again cagalli beat her brother to the punch; her own questions still going unanswered "Yeah I get that, but what do you mean logos appears to manipulate the war? Your avoiding saying something, now spill it!" Sighing softly kira placed his hand on her shoulder "Don't yell at him cagalli, try not to push so hard"

Nodding slightly takaru leaned back in his chair "Oh don't worry, I am used to her temper…I don't take it seriously. And she is right; I was trying to stay away from one piece of information at least for now. But I was going to say it eventually. Logos as I said appears to manipulate this war…but they themselves are manipulated. The real puppet masters of this war are the blood council, or more importantly the head of the council."

Not enjoying the thought of yet another enemy to fight, the hot headed blonde found the idea of coming out of this war the victors, or more importantly alive were quickly getting farther away. _How are we supposed to battle the alliance, zaft and this blood council without help…and with kira on the frontlines every time…how long before…?_ Biting down on her lip slightly she avoided considering that thought any farther. While cagalli collected her thoughts kira finally got a chance to continue the questions "So what's so special about this council? Shouldn't more people know about them if their such a threat"

"The less people know about something, the more of a threat it becomes. This blood council is a collection of nine powerful generals and pilots. They are headed by a man referred to only as commander, but after a lot of digging…and unfortunately a few lost lives we found his true name. General Alexander Isami, he served in the first war with the earth alliance…but they kicked him out due to the utter destruction he caused to both the enemy and their own men."

The act of friendly fire could be found all throughout the first war the worst of which was the JOSH-A incident. You can't get much worse then planting a massive system under a base planned to take out the invading enemy along with there own defense force…who were deemed expendable. With that on their shoulders neither twin could see how they could kick someone out for the same reasons. Although cagalli preferred not to think about the second war being worse than the first, it was a definite possibility "well what kind of military forces do they have?"

Kira was actually kind of surprised by the frown crossing takarus face, it didn't seem like he was angry with cagalli…the expression almost looked as if he was disappointed with himself "Unfortunately…we don't have that information, we do know it is a vast number but if the information we have is correct, their numbers are scattered and hidden in secret facilities all across both sides of this conflict."

The benefit of such hidden numbers was defiantly great, no one knew what kind of army they could field if pressed. "So…unless they deploy we don't have to fight them right?" kiras hopeful statement was shot down within seconds, just by the face the leader made. _It really is amazing how you can tell what's on his mind just from his face…complete honesty or a great liar…_

"The blood council has established themselves as generals within the alliance with the exception of their commander at least. They hold high ranking positions and can manipulate the forces as they see fit, if they want you gone…they can easily shift the target to you. Although at the moment it doesn't appear they chase you, it might not be long before they throw their battle hardened soldiers right at your throat."

"I don't like the sound of that…" _stronger and stronger enemies…more and more destruction. _Sighing kira leaned his head back against the hard chair, staring Blankley at the ceiling. Although his sister could defiantly sense the tare in his heart, she could do little more then grasp his hand under the table for comfort. For every life he took she would have to be there to repair what was left of his heart, she understood that very well. "So then what do you suggest we do?"

"Well for now I just want you two to relax! Let me worry about what's going on outside this colony for now, once I can think up a proper plan of attack I would be more than happy to inform you. I would like to remind you I have no plans to enter this war, but if the future calls for it I would ask you to command artinals forces kira…"

That single statement snapped the young pilots head right back up, his eyes bulging towards the smirking leader "W-what was that!?" Chuckling softly takaru enjoyed watching cagallis expression match kiras "it is as I said; if Artinal should be dragged into this war I want you to command are forces."

"But why would you want me, I'm sure you have very capable leaders…and the only commanding experience I have is in Orb during peace time." Nodding his agreement takaru once again turned to look at the portraits on the wall and kira finally understood why. They had to be artinals leaders of the past, wasn't every leader's goal to be as good as the one before him…if not better? "That may be so, but never the less your skills are remarkable…my officers may be able to command battles on a small scale but you would be able to see the larger picture. Besides…if this war expands as I believe…you may find yourself carrying even more responsibility, I believe cagalli can run a country…but she can't lead an army."

Although cagalli definitely wanted to object she knew it was true…instead settling for scowling and grumbling her objections. Sighing softly the twins watched takaru stand up firmly, strolling slowly towards the door. "Unfortunately these meetings have exhausted me…if you wish to speak further it will have to be another day. For now, enjoy yourselves as much as possible." With a polite wave he excused himself, his footsteps echoing down the hall until the steel door finally clicked close.

The two sat in utter silence for a long period of time before cagalli finally got fed up, breaking it herself. "Hey, you alright kira?" With a quick nod of the head his zoned expression changed to a more serious tone. "Of course I am, so come on" Standing kira gently pulled his sister up by their still connected hands, smiling softly. "W-what…where are we going?" pulling her towards the door he just held his earlier smile "you wanted to see the city right? So that's what we are going to do, we can go anywhere you want."

* * *

Artinal Military District

The soft patter of footsteps sent rattles through the metal floor to create the only sound in the dark corridor. The dimmest of lights provided just enough sight to follow the twisting path; a few doors filled with silent workers lay in the walls on occasion. "Koji…what are we doing here again?" Star frowned slightly, when she insisted on following him on his errand she had no idea it would lead to the deepest part of artinals factories. When they began they saw people everywhere, working on ships and mobile suits without rest. Now it just seemed like an empty void, whatever was at the end definitely would have to be important.

"I have to meet with someone, I'm sorry I can't tell you more star…" Sighing she shook her head slowly, her personality always lightening around him "No it's ok, I know if you hide something it's for a good reason." Her eyes caught the light leaking from the cracks of a door toward the end of the hallway. As if drawn to it koji's feet fell silent right in front, eyes squinting to scan the small gold plate at the side. "Looks like we're here"

He pushed the door open without effort, star instantly realizing the difference in light as they walked through the doorway. Lights burned endlessly as workers scrambled to do their jobs, a towering figure in the back was covered with a large cloth while a few workers came out from underneath others would disappear beyond the veil. She quickly caught up with koji who had already covered half of the workroom heading towards an office on the far side.

Koji forced the second door open without a knock, walking straight up to the single desk with star close behind. An older man sat perched behind the simple metal desk, one hand striding over his computers keyboard while the other scratched notes down on paper. His eyes never even looked up from his work, a gruff voice the only thing showing star he even noticed "What do you want?"

Scowling koji leaned against the wall, staring intently towards what star had assumed to be a friend of koji's. "Did you finish what I asked for?" A small huff pushed its way through his throat, his pen stopping in mid stroke while the other left the keyboard to grab a pair of glasses at his side. "You've worried your mother sick, and now you walk in here asking for something? Are you at least going to visit her you ungrateful brat"

The small stab seemed to roll right over the calm pilot; his eyes simply watching his father drop the pen and slip his glasses over the bridge of his nose "I was thinking about it, I thought I would pay you a visit first." Star had thought for the longest time his parents were gone, but she could definitely see the resemblance. _Did he want people to think his parents were dead…? He obviously doesn't get along with his father…but I don't see why he wouldn't mention him at least._

"Well how considerate of you" his tone spewed sarcasm like venom, if words could kill that simple phrase would have done koji over many times over. "Humph, I'm almost done with your damn project…follow me" he strained himself to stand, slipping past the two of them with a noticeable limp. He lead them towards the covered machine, his strong voice carrying back to them while he walked "I don't see why you want such a thing, a punk like you could never use it…I thought once that pitiful wife of yours was gone you would come back like a good boy. I could have understood if you were blinded by love, but who knew you were so worthless despite that"

Clenching his first tightly koji did his best to fight back the anger surging through his blood "well _dad_ the only thing you were ever good at was building, so I might as well use you for it." Jabs at him were one thing he both expected and could handle from his father, but when he targeted his since deceased wife it hit him hard.

Dropping the subject his father pulled a clipboard from a technician's hand, scanning over it while his feet stalled in front of his project "Humph it's almost done just has a few finishing parts, this thing took up a lot of artinals resources. But you wouldn't care about this colony anymore I suppose. Hopefully after this you will stop bothering me with your selfish requests."

"Yeah, I may just do that…see you later" as quickly as they came, they were out the door with koji in a much worse mood. "Koji…" Continuing down the hallway he released the faintest of sighs "Look I know what you want to know, and yeah I do want people to think their…gone. I've made enemies, and if anything happened to my mother…"

Showing a hint of a smile she grabbed his hand quickly to pull him forward "Why don't you introduce me to her then, you seem to like her more" looking up at her he couldn't help but laugh, his free hand rubbing the back of his head "Sure why not, but we need to grab something to eat first…I'm starved"

* * *

Artinal City

The twins agreed to split up to gather there things, drop them off at the government building and even find out about Artinal from a few guides before meeting at a giant fountain in what appeared to be a town square. The fountain spewed water in a sparkling stream, raining down in the oversized bowl. Kira was the first to get there surprisingly, quickly finding out there wasn't much information to gather aside from what was already told to them but also dealing with an official break up with lacus. He had seen her so little it was hard to find the time to end it for real, and although he approached it as well as he could she still looked troubled. She kept her classic smile but it was much sadder, and unlike flay who screamed at him she simply said her farewells and went off without indicating how upset she actually was. Kira on the other hand felt guilt cling to him on several occasions but it had to be done.

"I hope she's ok…" He leaned back against the cement side to the fountain while the sound of spraying water filled his ears. Trying to remove the sad thoughts from his mind kira examined the city through small glances. It really was quite an amazing city, from the lights to the people. The war didn't even seem to touch the peaceful expressions on the population…of course he saw the same thing on orbs citizens before the attack. "I hope Artinal doesn't suffer the same fate…"

"Hey stop talking all gloom and doom!" Frowning cagalli came up beside him, refraining from hitting him over the head. Although she still had her classic attitude being with kira was defiantly loosening her up at least a bit. "Were out here to have a bit of fun, not talk about battles got it? So what did you find out?"

With the slightest smile he nodded "yes mam and I didn't find out much. I just kept getting history lessons on the colonies construction…"

"Well…I guess it's not important anyway. Let's explore then, come on!" Yanking kira forward by his arm he quickly forced himself to keep her pace, fearing she might take his arm off. "Ouch! Calm down a bit cagalli…" he let out a small sigh as she loosened her grip with a mumbled apology.

"Stop being a baby and I wouldn't have to loosen up" although she was happy to have the time with kira, she did want to know more about Artinal. All she kept getting was city facts…nothing about their military. She needed to know if they were repeating orbs policies. When orb declared neutrality and kept making weapon including some for the earth alliance, it led to its downfall and the death of her father. If Artinal did the same…_damit I don't want another orb! Please takaru…don't be making orbs mistakes. _Neither of the two knew there thoughts crossed each other.

She hadn't even noticed when kira finally started walking at her side to remove her need to pull him, but she did snap back into reality when his arm went around her waist to pull her against him. The surprise turned her cheeks red almost instantly "K-kira what if someone sees us…" it amazed her to see his leaps of courage on occasion.

Smiling he just pulled her closer "You look upset, so I think I'll risk it…" her head dropped to his shoulder with her defeat, of course it wasn't a battle she wished to win. Her mind calmed down and distanced itself from the same gloomy thoughts she tried to get kira to stop with. The two walked through the city for a good part of the day, simply looking at all the sights and occasionally stopping at a few stands. Although it seemed they would get a peaceful day alone, they picked the wrong window to walk past.

Just as they passed a little café, the door flew open with an energetic hand waving "Yo kid! Where do you think you two are running off to? You guys eloping or something else?" The twins stopped instantly, pulling away flushed. "K-koji! Oh uh…we were just seeing the city, and cagalli got cold…and"

Cagalli was the first to regain herself, sighing at her brothers pathetic attempt to cover them "Look we were walking around the city; you got a problem with that?" The less they said the better; something simple like hers would beat the stuttered excuse of her brother. _He looked so cute trying to explain himself while embarrassed though…_She had to force back a small snicker while repeating the event in her head.

Turning towards the stubborn cagalli the captain simply shrugged "well then come on in and grab something to eat will you! I tried to find you guys before you left, but it was a no go." His form retreated back through the door, kiras chuckle catching cagallis ear "What's so funny?"

"Oh…well nothing, I just can't believe koji can always have so much energy. He's so…carefree. Well want to go in?" Sighing she looked through the window to see the captain sit next to the ice cold star, who actually seemed to be enjoying herself. "I guess so…" _imagine that, the ice queen can smile…_

With slight more confusion kira had to tilt his head slightly to see his sisters face through the falling bangs "You guess so? Are you mad or something…?" Scowling she slipped through the door, quickly followed by her brother "I'm not mad!"

The two sat down across from their allies, kiras mind running over the event outside to try and figure out what he did this time. _Did I not do something…? Maybe she didn't want to come in here… I don't get girls…_Although things progressed fine, and cagalli lightened up between the meal and conversation he couldn't stop feeling guilty.

Finally deciding to do something about it kira quickly stood up from the table "Hey um koji…I saw this really cool relic at this little shop, I thought you might want to see it" although cagalli seemed to buy it he could tell she was trying to remember what might have peaked his interest. Even if she did decide he was up to something she would never guess what, the only thing he needed was for koji to agree.

Always one to enjoy a good find koji considered it for a moment "well I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a look but don't let me buy it." He was on his feet in moments and heading to the door soon after "you girls play nice now." Kira turned to cagalli instantly "We should be back in a minute, you two stay here" his feet rushed him to the door before an objection could ruin his plan.

Once the boys had left it was rather uncomfortable while silence engulfed the two girls. Attempting to make conversation cagalli rattled her brain for something to say "So…things have been hectic lately huh?" Going back to her usual personality star only gave a slow nod, her hand slowly stirring her soda with a straw. Cagalli was hit with utter confusion as star quickly got up "come on." Deciding following was better then being left alone waiting, the completely lost blonde left with star.

* * *

Artinal streets-kira

Kira had gone a good distance before koji finally started wondering what exactly was so important to see. "So…where is this thing you want me to see?" Finally remembering koji was with him kira came to a stop, turning around with a nervous smile "Well um…you see, I sort of lied"

Amazingly koji didn't seem too shocked by the whole thing "Well alright, what did you really need to do?" Standing there for several moments he attempted to remember where the store was actually located "I need to…buy something, just needed an excuse to leave" scanning the streets kira finally took down one particularly crowded road, slipping past people carefully. His eyes glanced over each sign carefully, finally noticing the small one hidden between several boxes.

Koji watched the young pilot hunt down the shop and eventually run off into it. When he finally joined him inside he discovered a jewelry store "hey kid, what in the world do you need to buy here?" Koji followed him around the store while kira continually searched the glass cases "is this a present for someone?"

"Yeah…I just…well I want to get something." Kira was amazed how easily koji adapted to situations, quickly beginning to point out different rings a girl might like. "Oh! What about this one? It's a bit pricey but the stone is really nice, what's your budget anyway? Certain kind of stone you want?"

He scanned the rings pointed out briefly but none of them fit what he wanted, he needed something special. "Well um…I didn't really set a budget...I've been saving some of my money since the last war…I don't usually buy much." He felt strange buying a ring for cagalli, and it was hard to picture the kind she might want.

"So…are you planning to propose to a girl or something?" The way kiras face lit up was priceless, his hands waving to instantly dismiss it "N-no! I mean…well, I don't really think it's possible for me to consider that" _What kind of priest in their right mind would let siblings marry? _"Besides I don't think she would want that yet…"

"Sooo…who's _she_, that pink haired girl you were going out with?" When he hesitantly gave a shake of the head koji continued to try and guess during kiras long search. Ignoring koji's guesses for the most part kira finally pointed to a ring "What do you think of that one koji…?"

The older pilot stepped up to examine the choice instantly, a short whistle sliding past his lips "I suppose it's nice but don't you think it's kind of expensive for not being an engagement ring?" It was a simple ring with a titanium band that seemed to be hit by the light perfectly, the top winding around a flawless blue sapphire perfectly fitting the rings look. Two small crescent diamonds closed in the blue stone, increasing the brilliance of it.

For kira platinum was the only way to go, it was more expensive than gold but was tough just like cagalli. He had originally searched for a complete diamond ring but in the end the sapphire looked like such a good fit between the smaller diamonds. "It's a bit I suppose, but I think I like it…"

"Well then get it! I just hope the girl likes it, considering your buying her a ring like that with no plans of marriage…personally I wouldn't spring for it." Chuckling slightly kira gently rang the service bell "She's special…besides I can't see you springing for any stone larger than a piece of dust"

"Yeah well I don't have that kind of money to blow…" He eyed the tall woman exiting the back to assist the teen "May I help you gentlemen?" Kira quickly pointed out the ring he wished to purchase and the saleswoman's eye glowed upon seeing it.

"That one is it? Oh wonderful! We just got that one in, it really is a beautiful setting and I don't usually like sapphires." Her hand whipped out a key which unlocked the delicate glass case. She removed the ring from the case, placing it down in the teen's hands for further inspection.

Although he had no experience with jewelry kira felt it was the right one to buy, and if he knew cagalli she would like it. "I'll take it" not one to carry around too much cash he had the money taken directly from his account and although buying the ring pretty much emptied it kira was fine with it.

It was only moments after when the two strolled out of the store, kira with a small bag firmly gripped in his hand. "Well that was interesting, but can we head back to the café now kira?" With an excited nod kira spent the time trying to decide when and how to give it to her.

* * *

Artinal Streets-cagalli

The two girls had walked several blocks before cagalli finally had the thought to figure out where they were going. "Hey so, where the hell are we going anyway? You can't just drag me around" Her feet kept the hurried pace of star with a small degree of difficulty, having not expected to have to walk so fast. "Just…somewhere"

"That's not an answer; just tell me where we're going will you?" Her temper raised slightly with the lack of answer, the next attempt coming with some degree of attitude. It wasn't long before star gave in with an annoyed sigh looking back at the tomboy. "We are going to get you a dress to impress that brother of yours"

Cagalli's eyes just about shot out of her head, jaw dropping at the older girls blatant knowledge of her relationship with kira "W-why would I want to impress him!" the futile attempt to deny the obvious had star rolling her eyes. She was a very observant person and nothing ever slipped by her notice. She saw the way they fought, how he teased her about being a boy and even noticed their change when it became a relationship. Getting something by her took a lot of work.

"I'm no fool like most, I can see what's going on just fine and I guarantee you once we get you a nice dress he will never even consider thinking of you as a boy again" not a single objection cagalli threw towards star got her out of such an event, and even though she didn't quite enjoy buying a dress nor wearing one…she did like the idea of kiras light hearted jokes about her looking like a boy stopping.

They entered a small clothing shop a few blocks later and within seconds star had located the dresses. Although cagalli did own a dress or two in orb for formal occasions, she had practically abandoned them once she became head representative. She now only had to wear her orb uniform in social situations. She watched as the blue haired vixen went through the dresses with insane speed, dismissing most of them with only short glances.

In moments she had shoved several in cagallis arms right before pointing out a dressing room. After a small argument she was off to try them on with mumbles carrying swears. She tried on dresses of all kinds and colors, and although she would admit she looked alright in some of them cagalli would never want to wear one. By the time she retreated from the small room she was handed one final dress.

The dress was an elegant blue that fit just perfect, gently hugging the body to show a bit of the curves of cagallis body. It was a mostly plain dress which cagalli was more than happy with, finding most complicated ones a waste of money and an eye sore. The only design was the slight pattern spiraling around. The back was open with straps going over her shoulders. Cagalli had barely exited the dressing room when star clapped her hands together "Perfect!" Although cagalli did think it was sort of nice she didn't think a dress would help her much. _I bet she picked blue just because she likes it…I mean blue hair and all._

"Uh…but, are you sure I even need one… when would I even wear it?" Sighing stars head shook slowly "a girl doesn't need a special time to wear a dress, wear it when you think it's best to." When cagalli finally agreed to take the dress she discovered star had already paid for it, and even refused to accept pay back from cagalli. The stubborn blonde fought all the way back trying to get star to accept the money. For once in her life cagallis stubbornness had been outmatched, and it pissed her off.

* * *

The rest of the day through the town seemed to go perfect, cagalli forcing star to hold onto her dress to hide it from kira while her brother chickened out several times to give her the ring. Courage was one thing he failed to have most of the time, but it was defiantly something he needed to get. Considering he had been pretty good for most of the day, he decided it had to be given to her today at some point. It wasn't until the two had separated from the koji and star and gotten into a car escort that cagalli finally noticed the extreme nervousness of her brother. 

"Hey what's up with you? You're acting all…jumpy and anxious." Staring out the window for a moment kira found he couldn't avoid it forever. Turning his head towards his impatient sister his hand fiddled with the small box in his pocket.

"Well? Aren't you going to say something about it kira?" Her voice carried a bit more of her temper, the idea of him hiding something from her not sitting well. _Geez what is up with him? What could he possibly have to be nervous about!_

"Oh…sorry, um I was just thinking. When I went off with koji…I kinda picked you up something…" cagallis eyes lightened slightly while showing slight surprise. "You…got me something? What is it…?" She could see him biting his bottom lip, debating whether or not to actually give it to her. _He must really want me to like his gift._

Taking a deep breath kira pressed his lips against her own in a passionate kiss, her own body pressing forward into it almost instantly. There lips remained lock in a heated connection, driving cagalli to the peak of insanity. Kira rarely started a kiss, but when he did it was always something special. His hand carefully slipped the ring into her hand, his own slowly guiding her to grasp the small present that she didn't even notice through kiras timely actions.

He withdrew from her lips slowly, watching her noticeably flushed cheeks from the unexpected attention. Her tongue traced her lips slightly before feeling the ring press into her palm from her grip. Kiras anticipation grew quickly watching her hand slowly open, her beautiful amber eyes growing large from the realization.

"Um…I thought you might like it. I just wanted to show you I'm committed to you and I love you." He didn't know what to think when a few tears welled up in those amber eyes he loved. The only thing he saw was her grip the ring again before tackling him in the back of the car, his head pressing back against the window as he struggled to return the sudden and intense kiss.

Cagalli felt her whole body shiver from the excitement of the moment, lips assaulting his with increasing passion. Every time he returned one of her kisses she felt special all over again, a renewed sense of acceptance from something she had long dubbed unattainable because of their sibling status. She felt his hands slide up her arms and eventually cup her cheeks, hands slowly caressing with a gentle touch before sliding back through her golden locks.

By the time she released him he was gasping for air with hands still tangled in her hair. Their eyes locked for what seemed like eternity, his sister's eyes letting off an extreme amount of passion. "D-do you like it…?" Despite the moment cagalli couldn't hold back the small chuckle, burying her head in the crook of his neck before sliding the ring onto her finger _it even fits! The lug knew my ring size _"Of course I do you dummy…but you know that was the first time you said you loved me…"

His arms locked comfortably around her while her body kept him pinned down against the car. The artificial sunset sat beautifully outside the window but neither one noticed, to absorbed with each other to even care. Neither one of them considered the fact the driver might feel very uncomfortable. "Was it…? Are you sure about that?" When he was sure that was right a sad smile washed over him for failing to tell her such a basic thing. "I'm sorry cagalli…I didn't realize"

"I don't care…you said it so it's fine." She could never explain how insanely wonderful she felt, nor would she. Kira had not only told her such a simple yet meaningful phrase, but had given her such a beautiful ring to seal their relationship. She found herself staring into the sapphires blue depths, mesmerized by the gem as she pictured him picking out something just for her. Cagalli was not one to get sentimental, but she thought it was a good enough time to be.

They stayed like that for the rest of the ride except for cagallis occasional kiss to his neck. Eventually the car came to a silent halt, the driver turning back to look towards the adorable couple "Excuse me, I hate to disturb you but we're here." With great reluctance cagalli pulled herself off of kira, allowing him to leave the car before she followed out the same door. Giving the driver a thank you cagalli nudged her brother to do the same, watching the car drive off before turning towards the government building.

Takaru had kindly offered the two ships crew's rooms in the government building normally meant for political guests and other important people. The two entered the massive building, watching the people rush about in the busy lobby. Earlier it seemed busy but no more than a small business might be, now it was dangerous to take a step without looking all around you.

Kira approached the desk where a kind woman quickly fumbled in a drawer and withdrew a keycard, inviting the young couple to follow her to the room. "You two really are lucky, the rooms are really nice. Takaru told me to expect you so all your things have already been brought up. I was told only to expect one person per room though…"

Sighing softly kira asked politely "Um…is it still ok if we share a room? I'd rather not take up two of your rooms and I'd much rather have her stay with me…" while cagallis cheeks flushed slightly the woman gave a small laugh "Oh my it is fine, I can see why a young little couple like yourself would only want one room…you two just look so cute together" kira could hardly believe yet another people thought them a couple so quickly, at least it was true now.

Once they arrived in front of the neatly polished wood door, she slid the small keycard through the doors security lock. A soft click was heard just before the door popped open just slightly. Gently pulling it open they were lead inside where their guide placed the keycard on top of a large oak burrow without a single flaw. "Well you two enjoy yourselves" She slipped out without a sound and closed the door right behind her.

The two shared a quick glance before exploring something that could be counted as a first class hotel room. The bed was large and comfortable, proven by cagalli who sat down and bounced on it. Kira took a peek at the decently sized bathroom before exploring the bedroom again. The bed was centered along the north wall with the door opposite of it. A mirror and small table lay against the right side with the burrow right next to it. There was a small television off to the left, lined up to be viewed from the beds pillows. A dimmed light touched every corner of the room with its gentle light, while two lamps and a few candles lay around in case someone wanted more.

A couple of scenic pictures depicting beautiful rivers or mountains hung perfectly on the wall. Slipped off his shoes and socks kira tested the rug, finding it to both blend in with the room and feel nice on the feet. "Wow this place is great" nodding her agreement cagalli gave a small grin "With the way the day has been going I wouldn't expect anything less" her eyes examined the ring firmly set on her finger one last time, a smile easily finding its way forward.

Their travel bags were found next to the bed, but since they weren't sure how long their stay in Artinal would be they only placed them next to the burrow in case of having to leave soon. While cagalli continued to explore the drawers and cabinets of the room she felt kiras arms circle tightly around her waist, drawing her back against him.

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**Ahem, lemon ahead people. You may skip to the end authors note if you wish, but please review!

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Although not surprised cagalli did find herself a bit curious, he never really was too quick to act affectionate "Kira..?" Her back lay comfortably against his chest, her head leaning back against his shoulder "Can I help you?"

His usual soft smile was still there but it was slightly different from usual, she just couldn't place it. "What's up with you?" Lips descended on her own instantly, quickly devouring hers in the quick strike. Returning it viciously cagalli tried to recapture the control and was losing horribly. It was uncommon for kira to start anything passionate and even rarer for him to take and keep control.

By the time he pulled his lips from hers he could see her cheeks flushed along with slightly harder breathing. Smiling slightly kira placed a slight kiss on her forehead, drawing a scowl from the beautiful face "What…? Wanted something more like this?" He placed a soft kiss against her before a second frown compelled him to assault her lips once again.

Her hand moved up to the side of his head, sliding back through his hair before resting against his cheek. She didn't know why such a simple yet powerful kiss got her so excited, or why he was even teasing her like he was. All she did know was her lips was practically quivering from the feeling he sent through her. The feeling soon spread down her body with an agonizingly slow pace, her cheeks flushed brighter by the time he pulled away again. "Kira…"

Without warning he leaned down slightly to brush his lips over her neck, placing gentle kisses along the burning flesh. It really did amaze him how warm her body was, but not more than the way her lips curved through a quiet moan. Her hand lazily slid to the back of his head holding desperately to him. He continued to travel along her neck, sliding his teeth over the smooth skin before sucking softly. A second moan slid through her causing a small grin to cross kiras face.

Cagalli could hardly breathe through the sheer passion of the moment, the only air through the small pants her body kept through. Unable to handle the devilish teasing of her brother she turned quickly, pressing her lips into his gently. _Since when am I the gentle kisser..? God he's driving me insane!_ The way he kissed her made it seem like they completely switched places, causing her to feel extremely vulnerable. Of course that wasn't necessarily a bad thing…

His hands moved up to her cheeks in a soft caress, her own arms latching possessively around his neck through the quickly intensifying kiss. Kira found himself being slowly pushed backward, feet losing ground until he felt them hit the side of the bed. In one swift fall they landed on the bed with a bounce, a mess of limbs tangled through the still unbroken kiss.

Drawing back slightly cagalli pierced his violet eyes with her own amber ones, a mix of emotions passing between them in the brief contact. Lowering herself into another kiss cagalli felt kira's arms slide around her back tenderly. Her hands moved from the bed to his chest sliding under the shirt he wore slowly. The control had finally shifted back to her, but that didn't help her body feel any less excited.

She trailed her hands up his chest slowly enjoying the lean feel of it. Despite the fact she was positive kira didn't do much to work out, he did have quite a bit of muscle. _Mm…must be from all the grunt work he does in the hanger…not that I'm complaining._ Her fingers hooked within the fabric of the shirt, drawing it upwards during her exploration before sliding it off all together.

Kiras hands shot up to grab cagallis and with a rapid twist he reversed the control once again, taking the top position while pinning her hands above her head. Squirming slightly cagalli let out a low groan "Kira!" he silenced her with a swift kiss, tracing her lower lip with his tongue slowly. Her lips parted in a slight moan giving him room to move into her mouth. Within seconds cagalli was battling his tongue feverishly with her own, unable to control her own basic instincts never mind her suddenly aggressive brother.

By the time he withdrew they were short on breathe, panting softly as their eyes locked again. They didn't need words to decide if the other had a protest or not, the way their eyes glazed over spoke enough to say they were enjoying it.

Kira returned once again to her neck, placing wet kisses along both sides. For cagalli he worked at a torturously slow pace, and would defiantly say it was on purpose. He was easily able to force low moans from her, and he enjoyed listening to it as well. His hands moved along her sides, peeling her tank top off her body without a once of resistance.

His hands slid along the bare skin of her stomache heading up farther before cagalli let out a frustrated groan "Damit I'll do it!" With a small chuckle kira leaned back to watch her shaking hands unclasp her bra with no small amount of annoyance. The smaller garment fell off the bed moments later; kiras lips pressing firmly against hers in what others would call twisted desire. His eyes met hers once more just before his head moved farther down, kissing down the front of her neck before heading down the valley of her breasts.

From that small eyes contact cagalli finally discovered the difference in kira since it first started, the slight change in his smiles and eyes was lust…something she could relate very well with. She suddenly felt a lack of barrier between them, there were no hidden emotions or thoughts and neither could hide something if they wanted to. Everything between them became intertwined together in the greatest of sense; forever connecting them in the emotion they call love.

Although her mind didn't quite notice how he teased her body, drawing his lips over her stomache and placing slow kisses along her bellybutton her body sure did. Back arching her absent eyes stayed focused on him, watching while he moved back up. His kisses moved up her left breast, easily snapping cagallis mind back to reality just in time to feel his lips close over the pert nipple.

A long gasp passed through her, back arching even more as wide eyes slowly calmed from the surprise "K-kira!...that's…oh god" he sucked tenderly on her breast, flicking the nipple with his tongue occasionally evoking a much louder moan from cagalli. Her body shook slightly while he toyed with her, nibbling gently on her throbbing breast. Despite the force she held his head with he moved to the other breast, giving the same treatment to the right one.

Biting down on her lip cagalli still couldn't hold back the increasingly louder moans. Within a minute he withdrew from her breast, about to kiss back down her body before her hands yanked him back up to a desperate kiss. To his surprise her hands moved instantly to the button of his pants, blindly working at it with increasing anger. It was obvious she wouldn't let him take his time any longer.

Chuckling softly at his sister's state he pulled from her lips, kissing her cheek for a moment before helping her out before she hurt him. Moving her hands aside he undid and removed the obstacle quickly, making things much more comfortable for his now painfully hard length.

His hands slid down her sides to her own jeans deciding not to make the flustered girl wait much longer. Kira undid the button with a bit more struggle before sliding them down while letting his hands trail down her soft thighs. For a girl who acted so tough she definitely had a very feminine body.

For once kira moved back to fully examine her almost bare body, from her flushed and desperate face to her muscular but very enticing legs. She did have more muscle than most girls, but it was hidden well under her curves. He noticed her arms slide up to cover her body, a slightly childlike pout filling in her embarrassed face "Why are you staring at me!?"

With a small chuckle he kissed her forehead affectionately "no reason cagalli, you're just the most beautiful girl I've ever seen…" although even more embarrassed than before her hands slid back down to her sides, noticeably less worried. "T-that's not true" smiling he enjoyed how nervous she seemed to be "Of course it is, no one could replace you."

Her hands moved to his cheeks slowly, pulling him down into another fierce kiss. He returned it with full devotion, enjoying the passionate embrace. His own hand moved silently along her skin, trailing his fingers over it until he reached her breast. Closing over the mound he caressed it slowly, holding his sisters strong kiss.

His free hand moved down to her core, stroking between her legs before sliding down her panties with no small amount of difficulty. He was only able to get it below her knees but she quickly maneuvered her legs in a way to kick it off. Pulling free of the kiss moments later he gasped for air slightly, staring down at her sprawled out body once again. With both of them becoming increasingly impatient kira decided it best to quench both of their painful urges.

From the increasing nervousness of his sister kira made a quick deduction. Kissing up her neck with quick kisses he found his way to her ear, whispering softly "Cagalli…? Have you ever…?" Her head looked off to the side causing kira to smile softly. "I see…than are you sure about this?"

Sighing cagalli felt a bit overwhelmed with how easily he figured it out; in truth she was just going to conveniently not mention it. She had no doubt about what happened between him and flay, the bitch had been bragging about it in the lounge the day after to a few friends. She was expecting pain yes, but nothing she couldn't handle right? It did make her feel better to see him worrying about her, despite the pained look in his eyes from holding himself back. "Yeah, but you better be gentle" They could commit a sin, a sin neither of them could give a damn about by this point. They could pursue their relationship to every point with no regrets, ignoring society's rules for something that went so far beyond that.

Her brother chuckled softly at her demand while placing a soft kiss at her lips "Your never gentle with me…but I will be" He wasn't that experienced, but he at least knew enough. His breathing became increasingly shallow as his fingers intertwined with hers. Locking his eyes on her own she gave him a small nod just before he thrusted into her quickly. Her initial scream covered the room just before she sunk her teeth into his shoulder, back arching greatly while a tear or two found their ways to her still strongly defiant eyes. His own was shut from a mix of small pain in his shoulder to the tight feeling engulfing him.

He followed with slow thrusts, causing her body to jump slightly. His hands remained holding his sisters while his lips left reassuring kisses in the valley of her breasts in between their gentle bounces. He moved out slowly, plunging back in slightly harder causing his recovering sister to let out a gasp and push her hips up against his own. The decision to take things slow for kira did not come easy, but he kept pushing slow thrusts despite the enticing feeling of her closing around him.

Moans slipped through her lips with ease, scattered versions of his name following as his thrusts continued with a bit more force. Her hips forcibly ground into his own, bucking into him in tune with his thrusts. "Kira…kira…ugh please!" Not one to disobey the desperation of his sister as the pain fully passed her he began to slam himself to her at an increasingly fast pace. His hands broke off of her own, one grasping her hip while the other moved to a furiously bouncing breast, caressing quickly. Her own hands grasped onto his shoulders, pushing in with each new thrust. If her nails had been longer it would defiantly leave marks. Moans became increasingly loud, borderline screaming barely being masked by his own groans.

"Kira! Oh god!" He quickly found control slipping, moving inside her at a near frantic pace while he continued to feel insanely close to exploding right there. He adored the way her body made him feel, the intense please as they bonded together with each powerful thrust. They were both working with all the speed they could, pushing their hips together desperately. "K-kira!"

"Cagalli!" They both came in an instant, reaching their peak. He shot himself into her just as she herself released around him, body's shaking and squirming against each other in the final moments of their ecstasy. There exhausted body's found air only through rough gasps, kiras overworked form losing the strength in his arms till he eventually collapsed onto her, head burying itself against her shoulder. Her arms hooked weakly around his back, both clinging and holding him as she enjoyed the quiet nothings he whispered towards her. "Cagalli…I love you"

Her smile came with some degree of force, the muscles in her body aching and needing sleep. "I love you to…so much…god" It wasn't long till she felt the soft breaths against her ear, a gentle smile crossing her lips just before she shifted her body slightly. "I think I could stay like this forever…" with a blissful sigh her eyes drifted to a close, any form of a blanket long forgotten as they shared the warmth's of their body's. Sleep came easy that night.

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**End of lemon and chapter by the way.

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**A/N: Well um…did anyone enjoy this chapter? It was more light hearted then most of mine, giving the characters a break from the usual hectic battles. The OOC for kira and cagalli that was present to some degree is on purpose, showing sort of how their personalities are meshing. You don't have any obligation to read the next part. I'm going to hold my breath untill ym first review, so please if you have the time i'd love to hear your thoughts, opinions, ideas and criticisms. 

A Mind of an Author

As I said in the last chapter I would be using this to answer questions, talk about the current chapter, and about myself. Nothing about an author should be hidden from their reader's right? Well anyway let me start by talking about star. I showed in this chapter how perceptive she is, while also showing she has a lighter side around the people she trusts. She even loosened up a bit around cagalli, where yes…she got a dress. I was going to go with green, but it's been done. As for kira's break-up with lacus, I omitted the actual scene (which yes I had written) because it just didn't have any relevance to the story. Neither athrun nor lacus really has much importance with things, plus I as I may have mentioned am not fond of athrun. He's always so confused while kira had things figured out by the end of gundam seed. Athrun takes like…two full series just to see things. Lacus although I don't mind her, once again has no point in the story…and I like cagalli better.

As you can see from the lemon, whether good or bad I do enjoy this couple immensely incest or not. More of koji's carefree side was shown, but you can see a bit of family trouble background. The ring…was well; I came up with it myself. I don't know what some think but I liked it…since they can't get married (yet at least, I'll see what I can do) kira needed a way to show how much she meant to him. It's like a non-engagement engagement you know? Ha I confuse you? Well anyway considering koji saw the ring; chances are he may see cagalli wearing it. So considering that, their secret is beginning to break. The blood council is another of my inventions, and you have already seen them (think back).

Alright this part will be about me or things with no revelation to the fanfic….so yeah, even fewer obligations to read this part. Anyway I'll start by mentioning something I saw in my anime magazine. Kira took the number one male character spot! Athrun took number three, and for the girls lacus took spot 1 and cagalli took spot three (sooo unfair). As for personal news, I have finally completed my top five anime! This is a big achievement for me. So let me share them with you.

1.) Onegai(Please) Teacher

2.) Gundam Seed/Destiny(I loop them together)

3.) Fate Stay/Night

4.) Shakugan no Shana.

5.) FullMetal Alchemist

Anyone have a similar or related line-up? Or maybe even one of them in your top 5? If not that's fine to! Of course you can share them with me even if you don't have a single one of them, I just like hearing from people! Well anyway this concludes everything since I didn't really have much news for you. Heh well have a great day!

The End-Of Chapter 10


	11. Progression

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 11: Progression

Disclaimer: I am unfortunately not the owner of the rights to the gundam franchise, it is produced by Sunrise Inc. I believe and created by Hajime Yatate and Yoshiyuki Tomino (if I'm wrong tell me) but it is my dream to one day makes the script for the next gundam…although it will never happen. Oh! And no one was hurt in the making of this fic, except you for having to read the writings of a below average writer.

A/N: Welcome to chapter 11, enjoy the show my somewhat faithful fans (do i even have any fans? Didn't think so)!

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The soft hum of the morning bird's songs filled the once silent room of kira while the artificial light of Artinal shown brilliantly through the pale windows. The entire room caught the generous light while the excess shined insistently towards the bed, bidding the slumbering twins out of their peaceful dreams. 

A soft groan released itself from the blonde as her eyes where the first to snap open to the unrelenting light. Pulling her arm up to cover her eyes she let out a low whine, the aches of her body making it rather uncomfortable to move herself. _It was worth it…why should I feel guilty about something like this…? People don't deserve to tell me my love is wrong._

Smiling softly to herself she could hear the gentle breathing of her brother, his head blissfully using her shoulder as a pillow while both an arm and a leg hooked over her body loosely. Instead of attempting to pry herself away from him she simply pushed herself closer enjoying the feel his body brought to hers…such comfort. She honestly couldn't remember a time she was this comfortable or happy…even despite the untamable pains pulsing through every inch of her body. Turning her head she found escape from the suns rays, her arms gently enclosing around her beloved in a soft embrace, a hand sliding through the scattered mess of brown hair.

A slight blush remained planted on her cheeks from sheer embarrassment while she turned her thoughts to the former night, replaying each scene in vivid detail only caused her cheeks to light up even more. "I never thought I would enjoy it _that_ much…" she chuckled softly before a slight gasp erupted from her at the feel of lips gently nipping at her neck "Glad to please you cagalli."

She jumped at the low voice echoing in her ears while her arms held tighter to him "K-kira! You're up…" the color of her cheeks continued to darken as his kisses worked it's way down her neck to her shoulder, gently nibbling at her skin in between kisses. It amazed her how easy he read her, how every touch from him sent indescribable sensations through her body. The way his hands slid along her skin with the perfect amount of force, or the way his lips moved so slow along her body. There was no one that knew her body like kira, no one in the world that knew her like her brother…

Her hands slid up his back before running back around to cup his cheeks, pulling his head back to hers before crushing her lips to his. There lips clashed in a fiery passion, mostly dominated by the now fully awake cagalli as her tongue forced its way past his lips and lavishing in the submissiveness he showed. Her revenge for the other night would be sweet, the way he took control of every sense of her body drove her both to the peak of pleasure and too the peak of frustration all in one. His hand trailed tenderly up her body, his fingers curling around her breast with a gentle massage. She moaned into his lips before pulling her head back slightly, anticipating the escalation of the moment. Unfortunately it was not to be, a gentle rattle filling the room as someone knocked against the hard oak door.

"Hey kid you up yet, that cute little captain of yours told me to come get you!" The twin's eyes snapped up and locked in pure annoyance with the interruption, neither of them wanting to summon the willpower to separate from their small sanctuary. "Come on kira, rise and shine!" The second sound of koji's voice caused both of them to groan quietly to themselves before splitting apart in bed, a slight frown crossing cagallis face as she whispered "What the hell do we do now…"

Scratching his head slightly kira quickly gathered his sisters clothes, dropping them into her arms while quietly responding "Ok…um…into the bathroom…" he tenderly hurried his sister into the bathroom just before a gentle squeeze to her ass, watching in slight amusement when she barely kept a light squeak quiet. She glared evilly at him just before shutting the door. Trying to make his voice as grumpy as possible…which wasn't very hard considering what was interrupted, he responded to the insistent knocking "I'll be right there! Hold on damn it!" Groaning he quickly dug through the beds covers, finding his boxers and pants yanking them up before answering the door.

Koji stood smirking in the doorway, way too awake for how early it was with two coffees in hand. "Hey kid thought you might want something to help you wake up, and seems like I was right" sighing softly kira took the large cup from his older friend, a slight yawn muffling a thank you. "Right well, that little captain of yours has been asking about you…sooo when you get a chance go find her kay?" Nodding a few times kira sipped his new coffee slowly, waving his free hand dismissively. He was not a morning person…especially after a long night.

Koji frowned slightly at the lack of attention but simply sighed, deciding it was the fact he showed up so early. _I could have sworn I heard a girl's voice before he answered though…_ his eyes looked past the exhausted pilot still silently sipping his coffee, examining the room but finding no evidence of company. _Oh well I thought maybe the kid got lucky or something. _"Well…right, see you later kira. Maybe you should take a bit of a nap before anything."

"I might…thanks for the coffee" he watched koji go down the hall a bit before closing the door slowly, a slight sigh passing through his lips "You can come out now" his ears caught the gentle creek of the bathrooms knob before cagalli opened the door, dressed in just bra and panties at the moment. "About time he left…" she walked past him, snatching the coffee right out of his hand before taking a long sip. A groan was her only response to the hot liquid, while a relieved sigh followed. "Now mind explaining what that was earlier!"

He chuckled softly before lifting his index finger to his chin "Earlier? I don't think I know what you mean..." she growled at him, which only drew another chuckle from him. "You know what I mean! You grabbed me!" He played the game well; thinking back for a minute before acting like a big brainstorm hit him. "Oh that! Well it just looked so cute…" Sighing slightly she shook her head. _He's such a dork…_

Alone again they both wordlessly decided to postpone continuing the earlier activities, mostly since kira was too nice to make murrue wait too long. Sighing slightly kira moved over to their bags pushed off to the side, ruffling around inside his before pulling out his uniform. "Mm I guess I have to go, you can go back to sleep if you want cagalli."

Nodding she quickly slammed the curtains closed to keep the light out just before continuing to drink her brothers coffee…not that he needed it. She knew he would be up and about fully within five minutes. He moved towards the bathroom before cagalli grabbed his arm, pulling him towards her and quickly pressing her lips to his. He responded immediately, his arms wrapping around her waist as the kiss deepened. Cagalli pulled away slowly, licking her lips with a slight smirk "Goodbye kiss…I get to give those now"

"I think I could learn to like those" smiling he kissed her lips quickly before disappearing into the bathroom for a quick shower. Sighing cagalli dropped back onto the bed with a light yawn, finishing off to the coffee before pulling the covers back over her. "Way too early…" burying her head back into the pillow she found herself drifting off quite easily, taking one short look at her new ring before falling into a peaceful slumber.

It was merely fifteen minutes after she fell asleep that kira left the bathroom dressed in his uniform, despite the fact they were in neutral territory he was still a soldier…despite his hate for the word. He knew murrue wouldn't care if he showed up in casual clothes, but even so it was kind of a nice uniform. He spotted the already sleeping form of cagalli and smiled affectionately, slowly leaning against the side of the bed as he brushed a few tresses of blonde hair back. "She looks so harmless when she's asleep. Too bad that's far from the truth" smirking slightly he placed a kiss on her forehead, watching the slight smile take over her face. "Sweet dreams" pulling back he quickly left the room, closing it behind him just before stretching out his muscles.

The massive hallways were rather quiet until you reached the lobby where he found people still rushing around and working their hardest. "The rooms must not take up much room if there's this many people to go in and out." That was one of the downfalls of having guest rooms in a government building; it provided a rather busy center. He got lucky with finding murrue, easily spotting her talking with a few of the crew members off to the side. She seemed to spot him considering he saw her hand wave towards him to come over. Fighting through the bustling crowd he tried to ignore the voices from every corner of the room.

As soon as he reached the captain she smiled and motioned for him to follow, the two of them leaving the other crew members and quickly rushing outside…where it was at least quiet. "Kira so you finally woke up huh?" He followed her with a small sigh, glad to be out of the stuffy lobby. "Yeah…sorry I didn't get as much sleep as I planned last night"

Murrue frowned slightly, shaking her head disapprovingly "That won't do kira…you need to get some sleep while you can. I'm sorry I needed to see you but…there seems to be a bit of a problem" kira centered his attention immediately, the tone of her voice signaling something serious.

"What is it murrue? Is it really that serious?" She gave him a grim nod while she led him down the large cement staircase leading to the road, he could see a black car waiting at the bottom. "Kira…the fact we are in a neutral nation doesn't account for much it seems. Zaft is kind of upset with the damage we caused to their forced while escaping here."

"I understand that but…you don't think they actually plan to do something do you?" When she nodded he felt guilt run through him. He didn't want any more neutral nations getting hurt because of them…and yet he had a feeling takaru knew from the beginning.

The two reached the last step where murrue stopped turning her head towards him, those usually strong and determined eyes had a rather depressing look. "I know you don't want to drag anymore people into this war too kira…but I overheard some of the soldiers talking about Zaft making demands of Artinal…and since takaru trusts you I want you to come with me to get the truth from him"

Biting down on his bottom lip slightly kira gave a slight nod, waiting for murrue to slip into the back seat of the car before following right after her. The black car pulled out of its parking and took off down the street at a reasonable speed. "So where are we going exactly?"

Sighing to herself murrue rested her head back against the seat "Artinals defense headquarters…the fact he's there kind of backs up my suspicions. If artinals attacked…I want to be able to help" kira couldn't help but smile at the older woman's kindness, she always thought about those around the archangel. She would disobey orders constantly…from when she helped engage zaft to try and help flays father to when she decided to descend to earth to save Admiral Halberton's dream. "You can count on me if it comes to that murrue…I wouldn't dare think of leaving Artinal to protect us."

Murrue only sighed at that, another sad smile crossing her face "you keep fighting so hard kira…and I know you don't want to. You might not be the only one who doesn't want to fight, but you are the most affected by it…I'm sorry."

He shook his head, his hand grasping at his side. "I will protect all of you…I promise that. I don't want any more of my friends to die." Not another word passed between the two comrades until the car pulled in front of a large reinforced structure. Both of them opened the door at once, leaving the car with a quiet thank you to the driver. A guard quickly jogged up to them, gun slung over the shoulder of his blue uniform "You must be captain murrue, we have been expecting you. Commander Takaru is waiting for you in the briefing room, I will lead you there."

People rushed about with clipboards, sharing conversations with fellow soldiers and commanders. Everything seemed so busy you would definitely seem like an attack was imminent. Kira wondered if the steel walls would quiver if they could, fear of their destruction clouding the mind. _Why am I thinking about what a wall would feel…?_

The thought of artinals destruction brought back too many memories of orb, and he knew without a doubt cagalli would be absolutely devastated. The worst part was that eventually Orb might be attacked again during the war, although kira refused to let the damage be as great. _No more running, I have to stand and fight for the things I want to protect…I promise you cagalli, I won't let Orb go. _

The long journey through the maze like structure stopped outside a security door, their guide's security card running through the small machine along the side. A soft click signaled just before the door popped open, being pulled open the rest of the way by the soldier. "Go right in"

Inside was a table lined with chairs, monitors running across every wall with a giant one along the northern wall right in front of where takaru was standing. Soldiers worked the delicate computers at each station, some talking into headsets. The smile takaru showed as a greeting looked strained, and his eyes gave the appearance of a long night. "Oh welcome welcome…I'm sorry we had to meet here, I have been a bit busy. But don't you mind that, what can I do for you?"

Murrue took on a rather serious expression, which kira was much more used to seeing. Such determination…it was no wonder she was the captain. "I have heard some talking, and I think you may be hiding something about Zaft from us." Takarus expression faltered slightly, a nervous smile replacing the other one "Now why would I do something like that, there is nothing for you to trouble yourselves with. I'm sure all you heard was a few rumors."

Kira ran his hand along his neck, sighing audibly before stepping forward "please…if Artinal is of risk of being attacked tell us…" he noticed the aging leaders face pale just before a long groan "I see…I'm sorry, but I didn't want to worry any of you…yes there have been some threats of an attack"

Murrue showed a gentle smile towards kira, giving an appreciative nod before turning her attention back towards takaru "So have they been making demands? Or just threatening you"

"We have often dealt with small demands for resources or the like which are easily dealt with, but Zaft is determined. They are demanding we hand over the archangel and crew, donate half of are asteroid resource deposits to their war effort and allow are colony to be used as a refueling station." Artinal had long been known for its excellent mobile suit armor; the strong metal was mined from nearby asteroids and had long been sought after by both sides.

"That's horrible…do you think it would be easier to deal with them if the archangel left immediately?" A small shake of the head was the captain's only response before takaru continued "Unfortunately no…I think you're just their excuse. Besides I won't let a bunch of stubborn war maniacs tell me who I can let into my own nation. I will continue negotiations but if it's a fight they want that's exactly what they will get!"

Murrue could see the passion to protect artinals citizens in takarus eyes, and it was obvious he could inspire his soldiers to feel the same. She had no doubt they would fight to the bitter end…but not alone they wouldn't "The archangel is at your command then."

"I appreciate the offer but I would rather you didn't endanger yourselves…" duel glares met him, causing him to chuckle "I figured that wouldn't be enough to stop you…well if you insist on helping then I won't stop you."

"So when did they threaten to attack?" Kira had expected the attack to be quite a distance away when he asked the question, but he was wrong as takarus voice echoed in his ears slightly.

"Tomorrow"

* * *

A/N: Well what did you think? I rather enjoyed writing this chapter and thought it came out pretty well. As you can see we will be getting back into the action scenes very soon, maybe not in the next chapter but at least the one after that. Thank you for reading and please leave a review, even if it's really short or to complain. No "mind of an author" this time around, because honestly I don't have anything to say. Ask me a question or something so I have something to write about! 

Thank you for reading this story, and a special thanks to those who have been reviewing (if you actually want me to type your name then ask me to, otherwise you know who you are and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.)


	12. Recovery

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 12: Recovery

Disclaimer: As I have said and will continue to say in order to keep me from being sued, I do not own any part of the original gundam seed/destiny story line I only own the original ideas and characters, such as koji and star and things like Artinal. So…yeah, enjoy!

A/N: I see some of you were offended by not considering some of you 'fans'. I am very sorry; honestly I didn't think people really cared much for this story from a hack of a writer like me. Anyway, thank you for enjoying it everyone. I wouldn't have written it this far if it wasn't for all of you. And special thanks to FanofInulover who insisted I add the name (oh was I not supposed to say that…? He he) and of course I give thanks to Inulover4eva who I refuse to leave out. This chapter will have no action, but next chapter will! Now read, read until your eyes bleed! Not literally…

* * *

Despite the noise inside the military briefing room kira couldn't hear a thing; all that rang through his head was that same word. _Tomorrow….Tomorrow…that's…tomorrow_. Despite his earlier resolve kira couldn't help but doubt himself. "Takaru please tell me you're joking…" Murrues voice was just above a whisper, how could anyone prepare to meet a strike with only a single day to prepare? Kiras spaced out look didn't help much either.

The aged leader stared down at the large steel table shaking his head hesitantly "No I am not, which is why if you plan on leaving I suggest you do it tonight. No one here would think less of you; this is not your home after all."

Murrue frowned deeply slamming her hand down against the table defiantly, the rattles echo dying away quickly "Don't be silly! We already said we would help, no matter what. Right kira?" She sighed softly as he only gave a slight nod, not even looking up fom the desk. _Please kira…we need you to stay strong._ She wouldn't dare voice that statement; he was under enough emotional stress as it was.

"I see…you are all as strong willed as I thought. If we get through this…I promise you every one on your ship will be considered hero's and not a single citizen would consider leaving you to fight alone." Murrue knew exactly what that meant, he was offering their military's aid if they survived. Unfortunately they did have to survive first, and if kira stayed in such a depressed state it didn't look good.

"Right…so do you have some sort of battle plan? We can't just rush out and fight them. Do we know how many there are?" Takaru seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden questions, but he could definitely see why she was known for being such a great captain.

"Well we do have some information, but not enough too plan a defense. We will know more information tomorrow morning, and since the attack isn't expected till late tomorrow…we should have enough time to review it and quickly prepare." It was never a good thing to work under time constraints, especially when so much was on the line. "But I think I should familiarize kira with Artinals military today since he will be commanding it"

Both murrue and kira found their eyes barely staying put in their sockets, kira the first to stutter out a sentence "W-what do you mean!? M-me, you can't be…I can't!" There was a big difference between the pressure of leading one mobile suit and leading a full army. When you were only in charge of yourself there was less riding on your actions…but to have to coordinate a whole army.

Sighing to himself takaru gave an affirmative nod "Of course, I did say if Artinal was dragged into this conflict you would lead us correct?" Kira gave a slow nod before returning to his arguments "That might be so, but all of Artinal is at risk!"

Frowning takaru turned slowly towards the confused murrue just before showing a slight smile "I am very sorry, would you mind excusing us? We can finish going over this in the morning." As soon as murrue gave her approval he led kira out of the room and down another set of halls.

"Kira, why do you doubt yourself so much? I just met you and I don't think that's how you are" hesitating with his answer kira clenched his fists tightly "I was always counted on with the archangel, but I was never in charge of protecting so much…and having to command the forces to do it. I can't do it…what if…"

"I believe in you, Murrue believes in you, and I know cagalli believes in you. Are we all wrong then? Listen…why not take the day to think about it and give me your decision tomorrow." Takaru stopped near a double set of doors pulling a disk from his pocket. "Here, this is all the information on Artinals military…if you can't come up with a battle plan by tomorrow I will put someone else in charge, deal?"

"I guess that would be ok…" Smiling slightly kira plucked the disk from the older mans hand, staring at the top secret mark planted on the cover for a moment. _I guess people really do believe that deeply in me…_

* * *

Kira didn't know how long he had been with takaru as he reviewed tomorrows defense planning schedule, all he knew was he was glad to be out of there. He found himself quickly back in the beautiful city bustling with life, citizens hurrying children while others ran into shops. He couldn't bare the smiles that the world faced at him, he knew before long they would be rushing to shelters with fear etched across them. His eyes turned to the floor, admiring the cement for the strength he didn't have. He could pilot a mobile suit, and could protect the archangel…but an entire nation? He failed to do that with Orb already, and yet now he had even more responsibility.

His only reward for not paying attention to the other walkers was to slam directly into someone, both of them plummeting to the floor with a grunt. Staring up at the other person kira quickly scrambled to his feet "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention!" The victim appeared around 22 years old, his hair an odd white color that ran to his upper back. He reached his hand out to help him but the other walker seemed to refuse it, simply picking himself off the floor in a bit of a daze.

It was then that kira noticed the blindfold over his eyes…which probably meant he couldn't see in the first place. That fact just added too his guilt "Oh don't worry about it, usually I'm pretty good with hearing people but it's so lively here…" The mans hand extended slightly, a smile gracing his lips "The names Yuichi, I'm here on business"

Kira blinked several times before shaking his hand "Kira…" _A blind merchant huh…? _He received another smile from the blind man "I see, so then kira let me treat you to something to drink. Know any good places?"

"You don't have to!" Since yuichi didn't seem to be backing down and considering kira also wasn't from Artinal he only knew of the café from earlier, so that would have too do "Yeah…but I insist that I buy you something instead"

Considering that for a moment the man grinned "Well if we both want to treat the other, we will just buy for each other…then it's even alright?" Chuckling kira agreed as he headed for the café from the day before. He was surprised at how easily the man followed…he really was good with his ears, but even so kira would occasionally say something as guidance.

It wasn't long before they reached the quaint little spot both of them simply ordering a cheap coffee. It was much simpler if they got the same thing then neither felt bad. "So kira, you live here in Artinal?" Despite knowing the man was blind kira shook his head out of habit. "No I'm just visiting I guess"

"Ah so we're in the same boat, neither of us knows the city well. I'm here with some associates but they had other plans." Kira smiled slightly as he sipped his coffee, he always enjoyed meeting nice people. "So are you a merchant or something?"

"Um…yeah something like that, I deal with weapons and such" kira sighed softly, a bit surprised to meet a kind arms dealer. _I suppose it makes sense…even neutral countries need weapons. _"So what do you do kira? I'm sure you must have a good reason to be here."

"Oh…I'm a pilot" the phrase slipped out before he even realized it, the archangel was 'officially' not in Artinal, just like they weren't 'officially' in orb in the last war. Thankfully Yuichi drew his own conclusion "Oh I see, another pilot trying to escape the war? I can see why…even though I don't have my eyes I can hear the destruction…from the conversations, and the television."

"Y-yeah…I just wanted to get away from it all" _It's not a complete lie I suppose…_Smiling slightly he took another sip of the cooling liquid considering cagalli had his morning one. "It's just horrible…having to kill innocent people, who are all convinced they are doing what's right. How do you decide who's the enemy?" It was obvious athruns confusion had rubbed off on him a bit, but kira still knew what he wanted…to protect cagalli and everyone else, no matter what.

"I guess that does make it kind of hard. But I think you already found that answer right? I bet you have…just want some reassurance." He chuckled slightly before resting his chin on his hands. "You sound like you still have some fight left in you unlike most soldiers. Your voice still has passion in it"

"Really…? I wouldn't think so…but yeah I think I may be thrust back into battle real soon" _Like tomorrow…_He didn't like feeling so overwhelmed with things, although he knew many more people felt it. He had no right to escape from the feeling if they didn't.

"Is that right? Well I'm sure your enemies will respect you long before you ever get to fight them on the battlefield" A gentle tapping caused both of them to turn towards the cafes window where two men in suits stood impatiently. One of them pushed the door open slightly "Yuichi It's time"

"Oh my, it seems my associates have returned. Well kira it was very nice to meet you" He extended his hand again, smiling as he was met with a friendly handshake. Drawing himself to his feet he strolled casually towards the door before kiras voice caught his attention.

"Um wait! It was…nice to meet you to, thanks for the talk" He received a light bow before the man left completely. Sighing slightly kira finished his coffee silently before smiling slightly "I think I'll return to cagalli and then look over this data." He didn't know why such a simple talk got him out of the slight depression of his thoughts, all he knew was he had someone waiting for him.

Some ways down the street one of the two men groaned slightly "master Yuichi did you get what you came from?" Nodding slowly he grinned a bit "Yeah I did, now we have to prepare for tomorrow" _I'll see you soon kira and see if your new resolve keeps you strong. _

* * *

The trip back to the government building was rather short even without a car, and thankfully the lobby was somewhat cleared out as well. "Seems it was the morning rush when I left" he followed the same path he left by, finding the room he shared with his sister quite easily. Slipping his keycard through kira heard the soft click of the lock and pulled the door open. "Cagalli? You here?" He was met with silence, even the bed was empty._ She didn't wait for me after all_

"Suppose she probably went out." Moving over to his bag he removed a laptop silently from its case, plopping down to a sit on the bed before lying down. Popping up the monitor he heard the soft roar of the inner workings as it came to life with a press of a button. Sliding the data disk into the tray he sighed softly as a warning emerged on his screen "Top secret…yeah yeah."

He searched through the documents of the folder before finding what he was looking for. Pulling up the military summary he scanned the massive amount of photos and information. "Wow long did it take to compile all of this? Let's see...guess I'll sort by size."

"Let's see now, we have the flagship goliath. Classed as a mobile battle station, armed with 16 main rail guns with 8 positron cannons along with various other armaments. Amount of ships, one" whistling softly he examined the structure of the ship, despite the huge size making it a rather big target it could definitely pack quite the punch.

Continuing down the list he reached the next level of ship. "Class carrier, armed lightly with four rail guns and smaller arms. It can deploy a small radius shield to defend launching mobile suits. Amount of ships, 20" Studying the architecture he noticed it had more length then width, making it easier to hit from the side. "What else…Class battleship, armed with positron blasters and heavy rail cannons. It's able to carry small squads of mobile suits and fighters. Amount of ships, 54"

Scrolling down he approached the last two types "Class Light cruiser, armed with one positron cannon and various small armaments. Used as escort ships and interception. Capacity to hold 6 fighters or two mobile suits…amount of ships, 122."

The last ship in Artinals arsenal was something he had never seen before, and definitely useful for battle. "its class…defender? Light long range weaponry. Heavy close range equipment uses beam anchors to hook mobile suits and fighters before destroying them. Number of ships, 65."

"Well that's interesting…never seen a ship exclusively armed to combat mobile suits in close range." He went over various aspects and such before reaching the mobile suits, which only one kind was listed. "The Art-X91 Geo huh? Two beam sabers, reinforced armor…enhanced boosters, beam rifle, crash shield and heavy beam cannon. Pretty standard equipment, but it's all really high tech." Right below were descriptions a few space fighters employed in the Artinal military, but they were mainly support units anyway.

He didn't even hear the door open as he continued the rather tedious task set before him. Before he knew it another form plopped onto the bed next to him, causing both of them and the laptop to bounce slightly on the flexible bed. Not even phased in the least cagalli rested her head on her arms, staring at the screen "What are you up to?"

Coming back from the surprise of the moment he smiled slightly towards her "Just reviewing some of artinals data…looks like Zaft is going to be attacking tomorrow." It seemed to take cagalli a moment to process what he was saying, but it didn't take long for her temper to flare "WHAT!? Are you kidding me!? Tomorrow!?"

"Yeah, so murrue decided we are going to help out with the defense. Takaru wants me to try and come up with a battle plan." He didn't even mention the fact he would be playing the role of commander if it worked out. Mostly he didn't even want to think about it.

Groaning cagalli leaned her head against him slightly "Man, we just got here to. So what's the plan…?" When she found he had nothing she let out another groan. "You haven't come up with anything? Well that's just great. Well then we might as well do it together. At least if you don't mind the help"

"Not at all, it might be useful having another guy's opinion." He had to hold back the snicker until she realized what he said, releasing the built up laugher just as she pounded his arm. "That's not funny!" Growling at him it wasn't long before he captured her lips in his in a quick kiss, pulling away with a small grin. Sighing cagalli shook her head, responding quietly "You know that won't always work…"

"It won't? Well then I'll just come up with something else" smiling he turned back to the screen, discussing the earlier information quietly with the person he could trust most in the world, his sister and his love.

* * *

**Artinal Defense Station**

The twins had spent most of the night trying to come up with a nice strategy, and just before cagalli decided they should both catch up on some sleep they decided it was better to make a plan simple. They had only made a small outline before dozing off against each other.

Takaru showed what seemed to be a fractured smile, bloodshot eyes scanning the room where many of his finest commanders and Artinals guests had assembled in the briefing room. It was obvious he was worried beyond belief. "Thank you for coming everyone. Just this morning we made are final rejection to Zafts unreasonable demands after negotiations broke down completely. So as such we have to prepare for the inevitable attack."

One of the sterner generals of Artinal grunted heavily "What are these kids and guests doing here? They have no part in this! This fight is for Artinal our home and saving grace, and I am not going to entrust its safety to _them_"

Giving a polite nod to the distinguished member of his staff takaru gave a light sigh "I do apologize but if you can not work with my guests I must ask you not to participate in this battle." Another grunt was his only response, the general obviously giving up on his argument. "Now as I was saying…"

Sliding a remote from his uniform takaru gently pressed one of the buttons, a 3D map of Artinal and a good degree of the space around it showing up. "Now I know many of you have read through the proposed battle plan, but I would like to review now." He refrained from mentioning kira as the one to create it; his men were having enough trouble dealing with him as their commander.

"As you know artinals colony defenses are rather light but are fleet is strong, so we will be adopting a series of defense walls starting here." He pointed out the point of the last line of defense, stationed exactly where a ship would have to be to accurately hit the colony without chance of interception. "We will work with four lines of defense, if one breaks it will fall back behind the next one as support. In this way not only does the next line provide cover for retreats, but what's left of the forces bolster the next line."

He went over the basic division of their forces, their flagship being positioned on the last line along with all of the carriers and a light assortment of other ships. Mobile suits and fighters would work line to line, using the back carriers as supply points. The archangel would work on the second line, while the invisible took up the third. A small detachment of ships would patrol the actual colony in case any enemies managed to slip through.

"Basically that is our plan, with this we should be able to ware the enemy down with superior mobile suits. We also have many independent vessels and non military craft that are willing to pick up escape pods for us, so don't hesitate to give forewarning of evacuation. Any questions?"

A younger general stood slowly, nervously watching his fellow soldiers "I would just like to ask about you being confident in Mr. Yamato as our commander…I mean, he isn't that old. I'm impressed with his piloting as much as anyone…but can he really lead us"

Smiling at the much less aggressive inquiry he turned the central map off. "Yes I am very confident in his ability to lead us, if you are having any problems on the battlefield or do not know what to do please contact kira. His word is law out there, if I give an order he disagrees with I want you to follow his order." A small eruption of conversation broke out but no one seemed to want to bring up an objection.

"Well then, meeting adjourned. I hope to be able to congratulate every one of you for a victory well earned my friends."

* * *

A/N: And that's that my friends, I set it up perfectly to get right into the action next chapter. By the way a crash shield is a shield that has a beam saber built into the center. The credit to that goes to Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.

Mind of an Author

Surprise surprise I actually have something to say, anyway as always I will start by talking about the chapter. I do hope you will read this before asking me a question since it may be answered. First off I know it was mostly only kira in this chapter, but it is a kira centered story and I needed to introduce a small temporary character. Anyway I sent kira back into a bit of confusion, because in war things in my opinion can switch between clear and hazy very fast. This just shows his constant search for the perfect answer, even if there isn't one. He has seen so much death, and has failed one to many times in his mind, so with all the pressure and all. So yeah this chapter was mostly story development, character exploration and slight foreshadowing, sorry if it bored you!

Next I would like to introduce a small contest I would like to throw your way, which of course will be completely optional to participate in. You could look at this as an attempt to get reviews, or even just giving back to my fans. Either way it's here for one chapter and one chapter only (unless its popular). I am going to give you ten quotes from animes, anyone who can give me the animes they are from AND the characters who say them will get to give me one paragraph for me to work into my next chapter. The rule is, it must be reasonable. I do not want to see something with atomic monkeys exploding on windshields (just an example). If for whatever reason I deem your entry unreasonable, I will disqualify it nicely and tell you why it's unreasonable. You will have one chance to re enter a paragraph, but will be offered no more chances. If I get multiple people who get the answer right, I will choose one for my next chapter and another for another chapter see? I am hoping this will help challenge me as a writer AND make you feel more apart of the story. Obviously I will give you full credit for the paragraph if you choose to submit. You may answer through an email to me or a review. If no one enters, then that's ok I will just continue on as I have. Since there are many different versions of quotes varying from the strict Japanese, English dubs, English subs and manga remember to look for minor differences in appearance. If you can offer proof that the quote shows up in an anime outside of my original answer I will accept it. Anyway here they are.

1.) "Uguu"

2.) "You're thinking in Japanese! If you must think, do it in German!"

3.) "And what's the real lesson? Don't leave things in the fridge."

4.) "Babies aren't born after just 5 months!"

5.) "So my stupid student thinks he changed the secret of swordsmanship..."

6.) "I wouldn't mind if you want to kill me, but I might struggle a bit"

7.) "If I have the power to make a difference then why not put it to good use?"

8.) "History is much like an endless waltz. The three beats of war, peace, and revolution continue on forever."

9.) "I've said this before--the only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions."

10.) I am Valentinez Alkalinelia Xifax Sicidabohertz Gumbigobillo Blue Stradivari Talentrent Pierre Andri Charton-Haymoss Ivanovicci Baldeus George Doitzel Kaiser. Don't hesitate to call."

Good luck!  
Hint: There are gundam quotes in there.


	13. Defense of Artinal 1

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 13: Defense of Artinal

Disclaimer: I do not own the beautiful original workings of Gundam Seed/Destiny, only the original ideas and characters presented within.

A/N: Here we are together again my readers. We have had a total of…one person to complete the anime quote challenge. Our very own Cassandra! I expected it though. She has requested to hold off on her submission for a more opportune moment and it will be respected. The reason there were so many gundam quotes was to make it a bit easier, and the fact this is a gundam fic. With this chapter I will be returning to our action roots, so there will be little room for relaxation for awhile.

The time had come, the battle to decide the fate of Artinal…one of the last free and strong countries amongst the turmoil. Would it fall and crumble in its own ideals? Or would the dreams and wishes of the people carry into the soldiers ready to fight fearlessly for their country.

The colony had become hectic as people rushed every which way, supplies being rushed onto ships while the final maintenance checks were being completed. The archangel was already fully equipped and supplied; those who could once relax now were rushed to battle stations.

Kira sighed softly as he stood in the hanger, the rushing mechanics screaming orders every which way. The freedom was slowly being shifted into the main launcher, ready to dispatch at a moments notice. Cagallis strike rouge was being brought up behind it for second launch. He knew it was probably only minutes before they were deployed into four walls. Each soldier would be outnumbered 6 to 1 if not more, each counting on their force of will to carry them through.

Zaft was holding nothing back, at least half of their entire armada being deployed to swiftly eliminate any resistance. Yet they would meet with fire and steel, the technological advantage of Artinal deployed all in one place. There would be no retreat and no surrender; it was a fight to the death. Strangely kira could find no fear amongst the soldiers of Artinal; they were pumped up and ready to fight for what they believed in.

Murrues quiet and soft voice overcame the intercom, every sound coming to a halt all around him. Everyone stood still, staring up at the ceiling. "I must thank all of you for your hard work up until this point. I am afraid this will be a very tough battle, and many of us could lose are lives. Our friends from Artinal will be right beside you, throwing down their lives with the same dedication. I want every one of you to give their utmost in this battle…and if we make it through there will be nothing left to scare us. You have all made me very proud to call myself your captain. We will be launching in five minutes to form into the defensive lines."

The signal went dead and kira could tell very easily murrues voice had been strained. She was worried, and for very good reason. The sound of life resumed in the hanger, workers scurrying off again to work. Sighing to himself kira approached the towering freedom, pressing his hand against the cold metal of its leg. "I'm hoping you will lead me forward once again freedom…we need to win this more then ever." It was silly to talk to a mobile suit, yet it was still the only thing he could do.

His ears began to ignore the bustling of life present behind him, his mind absorbed in his past battles and his future threats. He could picture himself out in freedom, blasting some poor soldier into oblivion while Artinal burns and explodes into thousands of pieces behind him. He could hear the cries of families and friends screaming at him for failing. Worst of all he could see the lifeless form of his sister and lover, staring blankly at him with blood running down her beautiful face. He couldn't help the tears rolling down his cheeks, his imagination carrying off too far.

"Hey kira, what are you doing?" The soft sound of cagallis voice rang through his ears from behind, forcing his head to return to reality…the reality he still had a chance in. "H-huh…? Just preparing for the battle to come…" his hand rose to quickly dismiss the tears still stuck to his face, a soft sigh sliding past his lips. Without any warning her arms looped around him, hugging him tightly. "Relax kira…nothings going to happen to Artinal ok?"

He gave no response, taking the comfort of his sister's soft embrace. They seemed to forget the fact they were in public, the only thing saving them from discovery was the busyness of the time. They parted soon after, a slight smirk crossing cagallis cheek as she placed her hand on his. "Look just be careful out there, don't throw yourself out to far ok?"

"Yeah…thanks. You are to be careful to…and if you need help don't hesitate to call" she nodded before retreating towards the strike rouge, an out of date yet still useful machine. He knew she wouldn't call...never would. She was too proud for that.

The ship jerked slightly as it began to move, heading back out to the infinite spans of space. Hooking his foot in the long cord it raised him from the ground, his hand holding tightly as he was brought up the cockpit of the reliable freedom. "It won't be long now…" he slipped into the tight confines, seating himself uncomfortably within the seat. His hand dashed over the keyboard causing the entire system to awake from its slumber. The door shut securely, locking him from the outside world. The monitors and systems shined in every color of the rainbow, illuminating the space brightly.

Commencing a final check on the systems he made sure everything was in shape before turning on the main cameras, the view of the Archangels hanger door being shown through the pixels of his mobile suits display. Turning on the radio he took a deep breath "Kira Yamato ready for launch, on standby."

He heard the checks and voices of the radio as people began to adjust their own, checking in with control. Before long the mighty white ship was floating in space along a line of Artinals ships. Every Artinal ship was colored with a mix of white and green, the contrast showing up nicely within the black of space. Every line was already in place, several generals radioing in to kira for tactical advice. Many of the younger ones tended to contact him, while the older and more experienced generals were confident they could easily act for themselves.

Another radio call interrupted his thoughts. "Sir I am private Korikowa of the 3rd mobile suit division. I have been assigned by Takaru to act under you along with three others, is this acceptable?" Agreeing grimly he told them to form up with him upon the order to launch. He would have preferred to go out alone without having to worry about everyone else.

The video monitor came to life with a flicker, a sad smile on murrues face. "Kira it's time to launch, we are opening the hanger doors now" nodding he watched her face disappear. The thrusters of the freedom roared loudly as he began the start up. Kira watched the large hanger door rise up to reveal the endless glare of stars, staring at him with their shimmering brilliance.

The freedom bent at the knees as the Archangels launch system kicked in, sending his mobile suit flying off into the boundless space where his thrusters took over the job. The artificial wings spread widely as his speed doubled, soaring towards the front defense line.

Four of Artinals Geos formed up behind him, obviously the team that was to join him. Contacting the four pilots he found them all to be fearless and confident. "Alright guys, just stick close to me. Don't be reckless, target the mobile suits and back each other up. When the first line falls retreat and wait for me, I will cover the retreat."

Ending the transmission he steadied himself, his hands tightly gripping the controls. He could see the Zaft forces approaching, the large ships numbering over a thousand strong. He could see the first specks of light as mobile suits began launching to form up a vanguard. This would be a long battle without rest.

Contacting the entire front line kira addressed the commanders "hold strong and adjust as the situation calls for. Mobile suits are to counter there's; main ships take down their fleet and ignore the mobile suits! If the fleet loses more then 50 battle strength then pull back to the second line." Some of the commanders eagerly agreed while others just grunted.

"There's the vanguard…" the first skirmishers made of about 100 mobile suits rushed toward them. They were meant to distract them long enough for the main fleet to begin firing on Artinals. His squad busted forward in front of the lines along with several other mobile suits squads, clashing head on with the violent invaders.

Kiras mobile suit jerked as he pulled up to avoid several shots from zakus, his own beam rifle blasting through two torsos. Thrusting through the explosions he swung a kick through the head of another zaku, bringing forth a side mounted rail gun and blasting through what was left.

The freedoms thrusters kicked in at full power, propelling him forward towards a group of five zakus. Dodging a heat hawk from one he fired three shots through it, shifting right and kneeing a second mobile suit. With full arsenal blazing the multicolored lasers roared through the darkness ripping the squad to pieces. Artinals mobile suits were cleaning up what was left of the vanguard when the first bombard form Zaft fleet sounded, hundreds of cannons firing round after round of lasers.

Dodging several with quick movements he felt one skin his shoulder slightly, the metal singed but barely touched otherwise. "Whew I have to be more careful…" Hundreds of lights fielded the skies, making it look like more stars were being born.

Colors lit up the sky in streaks of red and blue, green and purple. Explosions filling his mobile suits audio as beams hit ships left and right, whether to damage or kill. He had little time to worry about such things as the second wave of mobile suits attacked in full force. Rushing forward he soared above two shots, blasting through the heads of two zakus. Ducking behind one of the damaged suits it was dispatched by a beam, protecting kira.

Bringing up his shield he allowed the enemy to pelt him several times before bringing out his rail guns which quickly ran through four mobile suits, the beams soaring from his rifle cutting through the arms of two more. The sparking mobile suits would blow apart from friendly fire soon after.

A zaku charged at him with a heat hawk, slashing sideways at him with the glowing axe. Ducking under he sent the freedom into a flip, his feet tearing through the mobile suits leg. Returning to an upright position he thrusted his fist straight through the mobile suits head, tearing out the main camera before leaving it in the turmoil.

Three enemies roared at him, two with standard machine guns and another with large cannon held with two hands. The heavier equipped mobile suit stopped first, arming and firing the oversized weapon. Kira easily dodged the attack, blocking the pelting of machine guns with his shield. Abandoning his beam rifle kira quickly draw a beam saber, soaring forward and cleaving a zaku in half before launching back from the explosion.

Bringing up his shield he allowed the high powered blast from the third zaku to smash against it, burning through about half of it before dying out. Abandoning his shield kira rushed forward, smashing his saber against the heat hawk of the zaku. Using his lower thrusters kira flipped over the zakus head, stabbing his saber down through the head and into the cockpit, letting go of the shaft before moving away.

Drawing a second saber kira watched one of his squad mate's thrust his crash shield forward, the saber imbedded in the middle of it piercing and destroying the third zaku. By then the first defense line had pretty much crumbled under the initial attack, already having drawn back behind the second like kira and his squad joined them, dodging fire on their way and still staring death in the face as the enemy fleet continued to approach.

The second line came into firing range, the endless field of lasers soaring through the sky once again. The archangel joined this time around, unloading missiles and blasters straight into a Zaft cruiser, knocking it out of commission. The Artinal defenders kept hooking enemy mobile suits under powerful laser harpoons, light cannons easily ripping through every ounce of metal.

Cagalli took on the task of guarding the Archangel, her strike rouge standing upon one of the legs of the ship. As zakus approached she would exchange blasts, using her shield as cover before closing the distance and slicing through the cockpit of the mobile suit. Although she was at a technological disadvantage her skills were enough to take enemies on one on one.

Kira on the other hand had to deal with mismatching constantly, always going up against 2 or more at a time. Within moments zakus converged on his position again. Charging in between two suits he rolled right, his saber cutting through one mobile suit and then the other in a single spinning moment. Evading several firing zakus he came up under them, cutting straight through another zaku before colliding weapons with a second. They exchanged several blows before kira took a heat hawk to the shoulder, his own beam saber slicing through his enemies at the same time. Getting caught in the explosion kira was sent backwards, his arm sparking but still workable.

"Damn!" dodging several shots one of his squad members took a hit for him before taking out a zaku, kira soaring past the kid and slicing through the chests of another one. Grabbing the machine gun off one he filled two zakus full of bullets, pulling a damaged zaku up as a shield.

He pushed off the pelted wreck of metal, sighing heavily as he pulled back slightly for a breathier. From no where a red and yellow mobile suit shot through two of his squad members, dispatching them instantly before moving on him. It was not a type of mobile suit he recognized either.

It seemed to cut straight through the sky as it approached him, slashing its saber down with enough force to push his mobile suit back a good distance. Kira attempted to counter but was pushed on the defensive by another quick strike. Attempting to duck under it he slashed upwards, the mysterious enemy dodging with lightning fast speed before smashing his fist into the freedoms shoulder.

The shoulder guard went flying off with a large dent, the joint of the arm exposed before being sliced completely off. Kira backed off with a growl, the sparks shooting good distances from the sliced arm. "This guy is good"

A soft beep brought his attention to the display, the face of Yuichi from the day before coming into view. Staring with wide eyes kira gasped "Y-yuichi!" He nodded his head slightly, a black cloth wrapped around his eyes as he smiled from his space suit. "I'm sorry kira, but I have my duties."

He couldn't believe it…that nice blind man he met, was an adversary all along. He was beating him and piloting without eyes. "How are you piloting!" The man just smiled, the battlefield around them seeming like such a distant place suddenly. "I use enhanced sound sensors…it's hard to get used to but provides faster reactions. No more talking kira, please prepare yourself" he rushed again at top speed, stabbing at the freedom which barely dodged upwards.

His attacks were quick and deadly, kira remaining on the defensive with one arm. Throwing a kick the freedoms foot was blocked by yuichi's forearm just before he slashed at him. Kira blocked quickly, attempting a counter attack just before meeting with his enemy's fist. Flying backwards kira let out a long groan.

Kira attempted another charge only to lose the leg of the freedom to a quick stroke of a saber, a small explosion causing parts from his leg to scatter, sparks lighting up the area around it. Just before a finishing blow kira saw the form of three shadow breakers zoom forward, koji backing off yuichi's with his beam scythe.

Koji glared heavily while just barely dodging an attack "Star and Clyde hold this guy off for a bit!" They stormed towards him, missiles launching from Clyde's suit while star closed in with duel sabers. Koji on the other hand whipped back around towards kira, a video screen connecting the two. "Hey kid, you holding up ok?"

"Koji! What are you doing? I can take him!" smirking widely the older pilot eyed his mobile suit. "Sure you can, but not in the freedom." Staring blankly towards his friend he tried to process what he meant. "Wait what are you talking about?"

"Just shut up and follow me" his mobile suit zoomed past, retreating towards the Artinal colony. Kira followed obediently without any knowledge of why they were leaving the battlefield. Kira could fight with one arm and a leg if he needed.

It took a few minutes to reach the colony at top speed, koji pushing him through a small hole in the colony leading through a long metal corridor. The battered remnants of the freedom landed cruelly with the dark hanger inside, the cold metal scraping and yielding against the hard floor as kira jerked about within the cockpit.

The door in front of him popped open and completely fell off, smashing against the ground with an echoed rattle. Pulling himself free he let out a long sigh, the rough landing just barely manageable. He so wished Artinal has shut off the artificial gravity. Dropping down from the cockpit he landed firmly on his feet, staring as koji exited his own perfectly landed suit. Of course it was impossible to land with only one leg.

"Koji what are we doing here!? We need to help everyone else outside…" at this point he would be lucky to get the freedom airborne again, honestly he was surprised it hadn't exploded. "Calm down kid, we will." He walked forward as if the dimly lit hanger was a second home, his hand gliding against the wall until it reached the back up power. Pressing in the switch rows of lights flickered on two at a time. The hanger was suddenly bathed in light, the gentle coat reflecting off the brightly shinning walls.

It was then he spotted the towering figure at the other end, casting a shadow over them. "A mobile suit? What is it doing here?" He scanned the large machine, the majority of its frame black as night. Streaks of blue like rivers etched themselves down the arms, across the torso and down the feet. A dark red trim lined the shoulder guards along with being the color of its eyes. A large open ring attached to the back was generously lined gold.

"Kira…this war will escalate over time. Your skills come from the speed you fight with and the humble spirit you hold. The freedom is too weighed down by heavy weaponry. I originally had this designed for me…but I had an old 'friend' fully overhaul it for your needs and capabilities. This is my gift to the only one capable of ending this…"

"W-wait, this is for me!? Koji I can't accept something like this…" The colony writhed and shook, lights flashing as a stray shot from the battlefield smashed against the colony's shield. "Kira there isn't time to argue! My shadow breaker is fine, and I trust this with you. The XSF Phantom, built for high speed combat and close range." Pushing kira forward towards the mobile suit koji let out a long grin "Make me proud out there kid and I won't regret a thing."

Kira hesitated but the thought of losing Artinal due to reluctance forced him forward. His hand grabbed the tense wire leading up to the cockpit which instantly yanked him up at a generous speed, the open door of the suit welcoming him. He found it to be slightly larger and more comfortable then the freedom, the door sliding to a close as he entered.

The room went pitch black before roaring to life, monitors powering up all around as controls glowed with a light blue hue, a sea of buttons and switches. The main computer booted up with the familiar gundam signature, the letters pushing themselves to the left to reveal the new acronym.

**G**enetic

**U**niversal

**N**euron

**D**ynamic

**A**rmament

**M**odifier

Sometimes kira couldn't help but wonder why they didn't just call it 'really big weapon' rather then use some huge acronym. His hands darted across the system, scanning it for anything he might need to know. Quickly adjusting the OS for his personal needs kira began looking for the weapons.

"Not much is there? Lots of beam sabers though…" He was amazed with the technology of it all, and most impressed with two systems he came across. The javelin system, portable energy shields dispatched for defense at rapid speeds was one of them. Although not completely new it was overhauled and a lot faster to response from the statistics. The phantom system was next, a device the mobile suit gave little information on.

He was just about to begin launching when a voice rang out, an odd robotic sound with a feminine touch. "Welcome to the Phantom, please stand by for mental connection" It was strange, had they equipped it with some sort of AI? Or was it just for better feedback.

"Mental connection is it?" A loud ringing engulfed his ears, the overwhelming sensation causing him to cry out, His arms grappled at his head desperately, trying to push out this unbearable noise. The sound kept changing tone and frequency, spiking and dulling over and over. Finally it tuned down, a low hum was all that was left…finally leaving him to release his head with sweat running down his forehead. He had no idea what that did, but it didn't feel good.

"Registration complete, pilot accepted. Activation of javelin system complete, pilot capability of utilizing mental deployment 97" those words echoed in his ears, unable to understand exactly what it was talking about. He would have assumed the portable shields were wire guided. Kira ignored it for now and kicked in the thrusters, the dark knees of the mobile suit bending before pushing him up. He was lifted from the ground, the bright blue streaks from the thrusters carrying him at rapid speeds straight into the exit.

The polish of his new suit shimmered beautiful with the light of the stars, clearing the hanger in record speed. Koji smiled as he watched the suit take off into the battle for the first time. "I have given wings to a broken angel…I just hope it's enough"

A/N: I'm going to end it there, hope you enjoyed even if it wasn't one of my better chapters.

**The mind of an author**

Well for those who are reading this, thank you for caring about the mind of your author! We all know most writers are insane after all…kidding of course. I will first approach the topics I would like on the chapter, anything not answered can be asked through email. Anyway was anyone at all surprised by yuichi's appearance as an enemy? You were probably not…I shouldn't have given you that tip in the last chapter. Well the past is the past…anyway I thought it was a nice chance to give kira a new mobile suit, I was planning for it long ago. I hope it came out already, I never really ran it by anyone…the original idea I ran by Cassandra but that's it. Anyway I like it, besides I see kira as more of a speed person…and the freedom/strike freedom has way too much fire power. I got sick of watching them really fast. I prefer the melee combat personally. If you have any questions about it please email me, just don't ask about the phantom system…that's next chapter. The battle scenes I know tend to repeat themselves, you can only do every action so many ways…but I am trying to mix it up! Hope it was at least somewhat enjoyable. Anyone notice how I often work emotions into battle…? Would anyone actually like raw battles, without a hint of emotion or thought? Just brainless killing…? I wouldn't. I have a lot of the next chapters roughly planned out in my head. Who thinks Artinal will be destroyed? Anyone believe I'm that mean? Oh! Am I the only one who just adores the last line from koji? I just love it! Well that's really all of what I can think of explaining…next up, my own life.

Yes it has been awhile since I have updated this huh? That will probably continue to happen as well. Honestly I get distracted, and have also been writing a Fate/Stay Night fic at media miner. So my writing time has kind of split…not to mention my own original stories. I have barely had any time for them, so they aren't even that far in! Man…but don't worry, I'm still here and kicking! Of course my life isn't just writing, I have also been wasting a lot of time in one of my favorite sites chat room. It is so strange there yet so fun…I get stabbed a lot though. Oh! I just finished watching Kanon 2006, the remake of the original anime based off Key's visual novel. It was even more heart wrenching then the original, although I still wish I could read Japanese so I could have the visual novel. Blah…anyway thanks for tuning in, this has been Eternal Nightmare coming to you from the east U.S. I'm out for now…


	14. Defense of Artinal 2: Phantom of war

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 14: Phantom of War

Disclaimer: I am in no way in ownership of the glorious gundam seed/destiny ideas in any way; I am only a fan writing for pure fun. I am making no money, and my only ownership is of characters like koji and star and any original ideas seen.

A/N: And I am back with the next chapter, and hoping to once again fulfill your expectations. I try my utmost to live up to the praises I occasionally receive. Unfortunately because of the huge lapse I waited to write this, I don't really like how it came out…but you're the judges, I simply deliver.

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The feeling of a new mobile suit made Kira feel reborn as a new person, even without knowledge of its inner workings he was sure to learn. He felt as free as a bird as the thrusters pushed beyond the accelerated speed of the freedom. The view of the battlefield snapped him back into the unfortunate reality as it passed in a blur before his eyes, drawing a sigh from the young pilot. Already the floating wrecks of ships and suits alike were floating away in to the endless canvas of space. 

It really did remind him of a canvas, rich in black and white paint and ready to be overshadowed by a more potent color, the color of blood, steel and tears. It was a painful sight, a devastating thought but an even worse reality. Kira didn't have the time to ponder these facts, his reality only included battle, for that was what he was good for "…Whether I want to be or not."

"I need to get a report on the situation…" it took only a slight of hand to activate the video frequency, the controls of the Phantom much more convenient to get acquainted with. The squished controls were light and smooth, requiring only gentle but focused movements. Each section was divided by the light glow of colors, and the screens poured out a light shade, much easier on the eyes. The soft flicker in front of him pressed the stiff stare of Takaru right upon him, the calm demeanor dropped in a fit of relief.

"Kira thank god, when we heard your suit retreated under severe damage I feared the worst…but, the signal of your suit has changed?" His curiosity peeked taking in the surroundings of the boy, who seemed to only smile back at him…yet still, that smile so very pained. 'He really does carry the weight of everyone around him…And yet all we can do is keep counting on him' only the passionate voice of the teen pushed back his depressing thoughts. "T-Takaru I'm sorry, I was driven back pretty bad and…Koji was nice enough to replace my suit with something more fly worthy. Could…you give me an update?"

"Sure thing…the second line crumbled just recently. The third backed by both the Invisible and the Archangel is still holding strong against the approaching fleet but…I'm losing confidence in our ability to keep up this resistance. We have too few numbers" Kira had feared such a thing, although defense was supposed to be easier than offense it changed completely when you're thrown in to space. There was nothing to dig in to; there was nothing to brace yourself against. Space…Man's final battlefield, and for many their final resting place.

"Takaru…could you spare a small squad of mobile suits and maybe a few fast cruisers?" The only chance now was to disrupt the enemy's lines and provide chance for a counter attack. "Kira you can't consider flanking them…you will be torn apart!" Takaru felt like fainting, how could he ask this boy barely old enough to understand the complexities of life to throw himself on a suicidal campaign for HIS country? 'No…That is wrong, Kira understands life better than any of us. Only someone who has looked in to the eyes of death so many times could stare at you with such confidence and hope.' Despite the situation he found himself smiling, what else could he do?

"I realize the chances of pulling it off is slim, but if we can then their lines will begin to break and you can order a full push forward." Takaru met the plan with a deep groan through that same smile, eventually conceding. "Kira alright I trust you…I can spare 30 suits and 6 light cruisers, meet them at these coordinates" the screen flashed on Kiras end briefly, data passing before his eyes row after row.

The transmission went dead as Kira rerouted his course for a spot veering off to the flank of their forces. Pushing emotions like fear and worry aside he followed his directions instantly, arriving at the rendezvous point. Waiting for him were a small group of fired up youths, who from their look volunteered for such a stupid assignment. The commander of the small force in a full white and yellow Geo Breaker shining beautifully amongst the others waited patiently, the stance and posture of the steel frame reminded him of someone. "Kira there you are, let's get started then."

It was then that Kira realized just who it was, that confidence and strength of heart. That voice, who only one man could carry through with such conviction. The leader of Artinal itself was leading these men, most likely against the wishes of all of his commanders. "Takaru! What are you doing? You can't help me with this…you might…I can't…" The shock blocked all coherent sentences, his thoughts jumbled and lost. There were too many surprises in one day.

"I'm not going to let others fight for my country alone, if this even has the slightest chance of saving Artinal…Then I will personally fight! Besides I still have enough spirit in me to show these younglings a thing or two. So why don't you show me, show me why every enemy trembles at your very name. I want to see you in action" Smirking broadly he placed himself under Kiras full command. With just a few ships and a handful of mobile suits they took off to flank the advancing enemy fleet.

The fast strike force took only a short flight to reach the flank of the massive armada, staying just beyond detection range. "Kira what should we be targeting for optimal disruption in their ranks?" He couldn't understand how he could hold such a calm attitude when he was under a kid, did he trust him that much? Was it even possible?

"Well…The ships should be the main concern. The cruisers should strike hard and keep moving using their speed as an advantage. Have about a third of the Geos protect them vigorously, the rest behind me will charge into their lines and take out all they can. The main aim will be their flag ship." It was a kamikaze mission, even Kira shaking at the very prospect. He had no fear of death but now…he had something to go back to, he had Cagalli. "You heard Kira boys; don't hold back in some damned attempt to keep your lives. Show all of Artinal, no show me why you are the true heart and soul of our country!"

Almost laughing the new owner of the phantom couldn't help but understand why people followed Takaru; he was a giant kid himself. He never worried about what people thought of him, or what he said 'I wonder if even a man like him has regrets'. "Alright enough of this…Time to see what the phantom can do!" The Phantom glowed gold briefly, the suit pushing itself right in front of his team. 'I will be the lance…I will be the shield…I will be whatever I need to be…' there was no one more willing to throw his life away to save another.

His mind pushed emotions aside, giving him complete control over himself. With a thunderous charge shaking the void around them Kira pushed directly through the unprepared Zaft fleet with just a small force behind him. The scouts didn't even hear the alarms; they were out of their misery before ever knowing of the danger.

The acting commander of Zafts force laughed brutally and without shame as the attack pressed forward harder, smashing through every well prepared wall. "Show them our might and courage. No one can stop us! These little punks think they can win? Pathetic! They deserve to die." It was then the report of new forces sent alarms soaring through the command ship at all angles, ringing in the ears of the crew. "S-sir enemies at the left flank, they have already disabled the Romulus and the Blitz, the Sakishima is already at critical. What are the orders?"

"W-what! Where are these fearless dogs coming from!? Squads 4 through 6 intercept, reserves deploy immediately. Keep pushing forward with the main fleet! Recall Yuichi from the front, I want him to obliterate these little assholes!" It was common for commanders to have strength in numbers, but fear in surprise. This man was no different, he was not the veteran commander calm no matter how close to death he was. It is the arrogance of the young and hopeful that destroys an army.

Kira smashed through two patrolling zakus with rapid kicks into the main power core, the second sparking for mere moments before exploding in a blaze. He still had yet to discover exactly how to deploy everything on his own suit, and it was proving a liability. Firing two beams through the main cannons of a battleship he flew up the front, staring down in to the fearful eyes of the crew before dispatching the bridge with a shaking shot. There was no meaning to sparing them in space; they would only die floating aimlessly.

"Kira watch your back!" Takaru rammed his shoulder in to a surprised zaku, dispatching it's cockpit with a curved beam sword. A second turning to shoot him was too slow for the aging command that quickly dispatched it with a small pair of Gatling guns in his shoulder guards. Pelted and filled with holes the suit tore apart from the inside.

The mobile suits once in reserve and stored in hangers were launching in all haste, some without any weapons or equipment. It was a desperate move but did provide enough cannon fodder in the eyes of their commander. Flying under a series of machine gun bursts the phantom dispatched a zaku from underneath, the explosion catapulting a second one in to a battleships engine. Another tried to grapple him from behind, but only met with a fast kick from Kira.

Hastily dodging such an attack he could feel the foot break the joint in his zakus arm, rendering it useless. Throwing himself forward again he threw his fist at the agile Phantom. Flipping over the mobile suit Kira yanked the battery pack out from inside the Zaku before taking off again.

A series of shots from artinals cruisers finished off two damaged ships with precise shots, quickly moving out of the range of counter attack. Kira unleashed a light sigh just before pulling back a short distance, running through the mobile suits computer "what the hell…I need some help with this thing." It was then that the metallic female voice filled his cockpit again "Keyword Help, activating database" His monitor went blank for a moment before returning to normal, a full database of the mobile suit popping up. Specs and weapons, height and weight, there was nothing unlisted.

"This is what I need!" Releasing his relief in a second sigh he scanned the database quickly to get the basic functions down before returning his attentions to the battle. His audio transmission crackled as the voice of a soldier rang out "Suit…too strong…Point X12….he- Ahhhh!" Growling lightly he knew it could only be Yuichi. Without even worrying about his surroundings he charged right for the coordinates, the large open ring on his back shining a bright gold as it siphoned more energy through the Phantom. "I won't let him win…I can't" Just as he arrived Yuichi tore through the confines of another geo breaker, throwing it aside to watch it explode.

Charging right towards him the enraged Kira let his rifle unleash a barrage of beams, each in turn being dodged by the blind pilot. Throwing a kick it was shrugged off, Kira quickly thrusting up to dodge a return hit. Lunging Yuichi sliced through his rifle with a saber, the small explosion forcing both of them apart for the moment "Kira why don't we duel with sabers? Unless you don't think your good enough"

"Humph like I have much of a choice" Yuichi wasted no time flying towards him, slicing sideways with his saber forcefully Yuichi felt it slide through nothing as Kira dodged. Without time to counter attack Kira felt the strike of his enemies' foot smash against the phantoms chest, throwing it back. Already his enemy was moving in for another hit with a powerful stab towards the phantoms head. Shifting his head to the left he could feel the impact of the saber scrapping against the shoulder of his suit. "You want a beam saber? Then take this!"

Bringing up the phantoms arm he pushed the palm of its hand forcefully against Yuichi's head, gripping the unyielding steel. Yet even so a bright blue beam tore through it like paper. To avoid a counter Kira ducked down and moved back by kicking his feet against his opponent's chest breaking the cockpit open slightly, a blue beam saber brightly shining in his hand.

"Ugh where the hell did that saber come from? I couldn't hear anything…" Scowling heavily Yuichi's sensitive ears could hear the flicker of his mobile suits head, the hum of his saber and the gentle shifting of the Phantom. Yuichi had no idea that his enemy's beam sabers were stored in the arms and launched through the palms. "I refuse to lose…I can't lose!!" With a fury the thrusters howled at full strength sending him forward with saber poised clumsily.

"Thank god he's angry…" Shifting to the side Kira dodged a sloppy stab while also flipping over Yuichi's mobile suit turning and slicing through an arm with a flick of the wrist. Cringing Yuichi withdrew again with one less arm to fight with, the monitor at his left exploding a shower of glass against his face. Blood ran down him in a slow stream, his senses dulled from the pain yet he refused to yield. "Yuichi please just give up! I don't…I don't want to kill you, I don't want to kill anyone…"

"So idealistic…so kind, but what will that get you but heartache? I was you once! I was the kid who wanted to save everyone, wanted to be the one everyone could count on!" Desperate to succeed he detached the hand on his remaining hand. "Fine…If I have to teach you the hard way I will…" The empty cylinder inside his arm began to glow red, deeper and deeper as it charged up. "This is called the Gallantry Beam, a last resort weapon that could break apart a battleship!" Yuichi had never once used this weapon, even cursed it at one point. Yet the desperate do not know honor.

"Y-Yuichi stop!" The phantom took off straight towards him like a rocket but the distance just seemed to long. _Why is it someone always has to die…? Either me or him…why…it's not fair! _"Yuichi!" without responding he unleashed the charged particle shot through space, the crimson beam barreling towards him with the strength of an unstoppable train. _I have to stop this…!_ Without trying to defend against the attack Kira threw himself off to the side letting the attack rip through part of his leg and arm without stopping. Caught under the surprise Yuichi couldn't defend as Kira took off his mobile suits last arm and pointed the end of his saber right at his slightly opened cockpit.

"You're a reckless idiot Kira! Risking yourself for an enemy…it's…pathetic. Why do you have to remind me of my past self!? How do you think I lost my sight Kira! I tried to save some upstart kid who bit off more then he could chew…my own damn brother…" Despite the distance he could see the tears streaming down Yuichi's face from the empty eyes within his helmet, mixing with the crimson blood. Biting down on his lip Kira let out a sigh gripping the controls of his suit harder "Yuichi…that doesn't mean you should forget everyone else! We will always lose people…but…sometimes it's better to just keep living our lives, keep to our strengths!"

"How dare you! I saw your file; you have a sister don't you? What if she was killed in battle trying to impress you? Are you saying you could go on your merry little way!?" Silence met him as Kira sat speechless and torn apart, not only being able to relate to Yuichi but on an even deeper plain considering his and Cagallis…unique relationship. "Kira…sometimes we can't get over our pasts, sometimes there is nothing in this world to heal our wounds! Just kill me…I've been asking for it since the start. It's better if it's you anyway"

"No…! I can't!" His monitor glowed red in the left as a soft flutter of alarms indicated an incoming attack. Throwing himself backwards out of the way he watched Yuichi just stand there was a tearful smile, disappearing under the purple surge of light. "Yuichi!" Even though he was an enemy, it felt as if a close friend had been ripped from him. Whipping his head to the side he noticed it was their flagship that had fired. "…Your own soldier…Your own soldier! Do lives mean nothing to you!"

A second round fired itself directly at him with a fury. "I don't care what you throw at me…You won't stop me!" Turning his suit he flew directly towards the incoming attacks, dodging several rounds before the main cannon fired. In a burst of pure instinct Kira activated the javelin system. Four round Frisbee shaped objects broke off of his shoulders and deployed in a square in front of him. Within a moment it deployed a mutual shield between the four connected points, the main cannons fire smashing against it with a loud howl before dispersing. "What the…that's amazing!"

Inside the Zaft flagship the commander practically choked out a lung, dropping his cane to the floor with a rattle "How the hell did he block that!? This kid is inhuman, some sort of spiritual god! All spare mobile suits are to gather up around us!" On that order zakus migrated from all parts of their fleet with an order to engage Kira.

"…Just stay back!" Flying past two he soared straight for the flag ship, deploying the javelin system to block against attacks, only the occasional machine gun burst splattering against the suit. Four zakus formed up in front of him with heavy cannons. The female voice within the Phantom returned to the scene "Hostilities in the area surpass 55 danger limit, please employ Phantom system now"

"What am I supposed to do?" The AI repeated the phrase again. Not knowing much about the mobile suit Kira dodged another attack before searching the system. "Gah, doing this AND fighting is too much!" He located it just as a beam smashed in to his back, tearing apart a small area of the suit. Thrown forward Kira let out a groan, activating the system as ordered. The ring on his back began glowing despite the damage in a much brighter gold before lights in all the colors of the rainbow swiveled around back and forth. Within seconds they had concentrated and then disappeared from sight, replaced by four duplicates of the Phantom.

As the Phantom soared over the flagship the enemies were torn between firing at five different targets, unsure of which one was the actual enemy as they zigzagged and twisted between each other. Stopping at the engines Kira stabbed a saber straight through one of the engines before backing off a good distance. The sparking was soon replaced by a chain explosion engulfing the rear of the large space ship.

The entire bridge was rocked viciously "Ugh commander they have destroyed our engines!" gasping for air the commander steadied himself against a wall, half way too tears from his string of losses "This cant be happening…can't be happening." With fear filled eyes he watched the enemies defense fleet pushing threw their broken lines. "Abandon ship!" It was already too late, a final blast from the vengeful enemy obliterating their chain of command.

Outside of the exploding wreck Takaru had rushed to save Kira who was stuck deep in the ZAFT forces who were in mostly full retreat, but still deadly. Sticking his beam sword in to a Zaku he pushed on, blasting through two more as a shot against his side sent him in to a spiral. Thankfully the very person he was trying to save turned out to find him. Diving downwards Kira launched a saber from his right palm, catching it and igniting the fine blade. The zakus barely turned to look up before they were sliced in two. "Kid, there you are! Heh figures I end up saved…come on, were pulling out."

"Alright…" Kira was exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. This had been one of the worse battles for him in ages. Together the two fought through the few opponents not in a headlong retreat and pulled themselves out to the sidelines of the battle, the sparking and battered mobile suits floating side by side. "Kid I want to thank you. As much as you might want to deny it…you are the reason Artinal is still standing, not the courage of my soldiers…or the power of the Archangel. No it was the power of your heart that has us all here today."

Kira remained silently tensed against the comfortable seat of the Phantom, staring blankly up at the sealing. _Cagalli…I hope she's alright. Yuichi your right…I couldn't move on like I asked you to…I guess I still have a lot to learn. But that doesn't change the fact I will do everything to protect her and everyone else._ He dreaded a time where he might have to make a choice between her and everyone else, if that happened he wasn't so sure he could make it. If he saved Cagalli the guilt would affect him for the rest of his life, but if he ignored her then…he would just have to die, no one could live with the grief he would have.

"Takaru…do you think it's possible to lose something so precious to you that nothing in the world could keep your mind from breaking?" A groan met him as silence carried on; until he finally heard the reply he was looking for. "Yeah I do Kira…that is why nothing is more important than that one thing, not even your own life" They both realized then why they trusted each other so much, they were alike in many ways.

* * *

A/N: Mu wa hahahaha I finally sat down and finished this. It has been practically done for two months P. Today I sat down with a two hour music play list and simply revised the entire thing. I hope someone is still planning to tune in, and I hope you enjoy because I don't want this to die. 

The Mind of an Author

As always first up is of course the story. I feel kind of worried because I've been so away from writing lately, but I actually think it turned out alright. I worked to get more thoughts and detail in, but I'm not sure how well that worked. I was having a few issues deciding on how to treat the tactics, so finally I just adapted a medieval system. I treated Kira's flanking maneuver as one might approach a Calvary charge. If anyone has any other suggestions on how to approach these kind of things it would be helpful. Tactics are fundamental, but they still change. Especially in a time period we never lived through. I was going to explore Yuichi's character more…but someone suggested that it wasn't a good idea, him not being a main character and all. But despite her great suggestion I couldn't help but add a bit of food for thought, if anyone wants to try and create your own back story. It isn't that complicated to discover his transitions. The last thing I really want to mention is the Phantom. It is slightly smaller than the freedom, but the MAIN reason it is faster is it disposes of the large rail cannon weaponry that weighs the freedom down. The golden ring on its back is a form of energy depository, so the more energy you're using the more it glows. And it kind of looks likes a large donut.

Next up is about me, yep your least favorite part! Anyway my life has been kind of hectic lately, between moving recently, a lack of motivation, a slight bit of depression and a huge amount of decisions thrown at me. Mostly I'm ignoring all of my responsibilities right now. Ha-ha I am so horrible. I have also put up a forum relating to writing battle scenes in gundam...can't remember what it was called, but I set up a topic for you to post questions about this story there as well. Anyway that's all I really feel like saying this time, so take care.


	15. Timeless Hope

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 15: Timeless Hope

Disclaimer: Ahem…I still do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny, although I came close to buying the rights on EBay. So close…but no, I only own characters like koji and star and the original ideas within the story.

* * *

"_Mm…huh?" Everything around him was dark as if light had been stolen from every sense. The floor he lay upon hard and damp made of broken stone, the only softness in the mold that covered patches. The soft howl of wind sounded through the cracks in the walls, the patter of water assaulting his ears in ways unimaginable. What was this dark place? Why was he here?_

"_What's going on…?" Kira couldn't explain the feeling, the desperate sensation to find anyway out of this place. Yet how do you escape from the inescapable? His eyes felt weak and lost, his senses were dull and bland, his mind clouded. It was if a mist had descended around him and chained his soul in this room. _

_Motivation left his body as a corpse upon the floor, staring up at the dark ceiling that dribbled water down upon his face. His ears felt the pounding of footsteps but couldn't force him to care. Was this reality…? Or was it a dream…? And which one would be worse…_

_The creaking of rotted wood, rusted hinges and an end to the ominous footsteps that until now had come closer, driving a small form of curiosity in to Kira. Light shined against his face, smashing him back to reality while his eyes squinted and squirmed to get used to the forgotten sensations. "Mm…wha…am I dead?" The pilot half stared towards the towering man notably dressed in an all white suit, reminding him of a lab coat. He seemed aged and worn, covered in wrinkles and scars of life. Both a mustache and beard of the same snow color, and a black lamp held up in a shaky hand. Yet despite the peaceful and somewhat holy colors Kira felt nothing good from this man._

"_Dead? Hardly…get up quickly" with little respect those words of spite were spat at him, the old man scoffing at the very prospect of having to lead a kid. Without waiting for a reply he turned on his heels, almost heaving from the strain on his old body. His footsteps picked up again, slow and steady back down the dark hall. Afraid to be left this dark catacomb Kira pushed his weak body up with all his strength, feeling the mold and rock help force him upwards. _

_Confused and tired Kira followed this man down this endless hallway, the only light that single lamp licking at the walls and ceilings to push back the darkness threatening to consume them. The old man said nothing as he staggered down the corridor. "It's like something out of a horror movie…" Kira commented to himself quietly, and if the old man heard him there was no gesture to show it._

"_S-so where are we going…? Who are you?" For some reason every time he spoke towards his man he felt his heart clench and twist itself almost as if warning him of the consequences of such a thing. "Don't ask stupid questions boy, what makes you think I care to answer them? Shut up and keep walking before I get violent"_

"_For an old man you sure are spunky…" that was when Kira realized the grave mistake he made, for in one short moment that man barely standing twisted around and throw his arm in a furious rage, smashing in to Kira's jaw heavily. Staggering back against the wall Kira gasped and choked, staring at this mans cold eyes fearfully. This was not normal…no this was beyond fantasy as well._

"_It was you that became a murderer to protect people, and it was you who brought yourself here. I Suggest you shut your damned mouth before you kill your own mind…" following his instructions carefully Kira nodded his head, his hand holding his aching jaw that throbbed against him painfully. They walked for what seemed like eternity until a door stood in there way, much different from the old wood of the room he woke in, this was painted and new, beautifully arched at the top with silver trims. _

_The mans rough hands shook from age as they pushed forward the door unleashing a much brighter light then his lamp could hope to shine, instantly it pushed back the darkness all around them and bathed them in a warm light. Trudging forward Kira was hurried in before he heard the sharp crash of the door slamming back closed behind them. Jumping Kira let out a raspy gasp when he was pushed forward still. This room was bright enough to cause even adjusted eyes to squint and turn away from the light, like a blazing sun for this one room. _

_For once in his life Kira felt scared, the door this old man now blocked was the only way in or out…and it was obvious this man was not something easily overpowered. Even more so the fact he didn't even know where he was, or why. "W-what are we doing here? If you're just messing with me I'll fight back!" Despite his courage Kira felt himself waver, as if this one man had some sort of influence…or maybe it was just the fact he was scary as hell._

"_Ha…why are we here? Because you're a worthless mistake and deserve to die. You still haven't figured it out?" Almost falling backwards Kira steadied himself and drew in a deep breath, glaring deeply at this man. Who was he to tell him such things, and treat him like a stupid child? "Figured what out?" Yet he still had to ask…_

"_Heh…your doing all of this to yourself, don't blame me. I have done nothing wrong. It is your fault that you have arrived here; it's because of your own personal failures…" Kira felt his anger build and grown for him to beat this geezer down and watch him slump against the polished marble walls. This plain room with not a single accessory would be perfect for such a thing…but such actions were not what Kira liked to do. 'I have to stay calm…I won't let him break me' yet as much as he tried to stay calm he couldn't deny how powerful this mans words were._

"_W-what do you mean? I have only tried my hardest…I didn't fail…I have worked hard" the man laughed gruffly, growling out his frustrations after a mild cough from the strain. "You have always tried, and yet you still fail. Who have you ever protected? What have you ever accomplished?" _

"_I…helped end the first war. I…saved the archangel. I-"cut off by another fit of laughter Kira balled his fists up tightly, the blood rushing out from the strain and pressure. His eyes strong and hard yet wavering slowly as this one man put out the fire. "Are you joking? What did you end, a war? If you had there wouldn't be another one…no, the first one never ended. This is a continuation of your failure, your sins, and your punishment! For every person you have saved, another three have died. Not only that but you continued by tainting your sister, that poor girl…having you push your sins upon her, and then those blood stained hands groping her mercilessly. Do you have any shame?"_

"_S-stop it…! Please…" he could handle his own failures, but when he brought Cagalli in to it he felt unbearable pain, tears pulling on his eyes as if they were weighed down by cement blocks. There was no escape from the pain of those thoughts, no matter how he tried to deny them within himself._

"_Why should I stop? Does the truth hurt Kira? Does it destroy your sense of conviction? What nonsense ideals do you have next on your agenda? Maybe you would like to add air to space and make a new failure, it wouldn't be difficult." This man old and rugged just smiled smugly as he beat down Kira with mere words, simply phrases of pain and anguish._

_Silently the troubled teen felt his doubts rise and try to envelop him in a cold veil, a dark catacomb of self-hate. Yet he couldn't do that, he had to fight for what he believed in no matter what it would lead to. "No…you're wrong, you don't know me!"_

"_Wrong you say? What is there to be wrong about? You can't deny the truth oh history and fact." Despite his attempts Kira just seemed to grow more fire in his eyes, that passion that led him through the first war was rekindled. "No! I haven't sacrificed for nothing. I worked my hardest to save the ones I loved, and I was successful mostly…but I can't cry over the loss of a few people, no matter how saddening it is. I have to stay strong…I have to keep fighting to protect those who can't protect themselves! Nothing you can say will force me down…I may lose life, but I save more. In the end I will always have Cagalli to return to, no matter what Sin or Mistake you call it"_

_A scowl met his heartfelt arguments until finally after a long pause the man smiled, brightly even. He seemed almost proud to stare at him. "Then you understand now, that you can not waver no matter what?" Kira nodded quickly. "I'm glad…it would have been sad to swallow you in to darkness" it took only a wave of his hand before a new door slowly faded in to view to the left of Kira. "Get out of here before I force you out myself"_

_His eyes seemed glued to this man for some sign of trickery, why would he be let go so simply? Yet still those eyes…they had changed, they were warm and soft as if ready to embrace. With his guard up Kira slid carefully towards this new exit, weary of his surroundings. "Who are you anyway…?"_

"_Just a shadow of the past,, do not trouble yourself with me idiot. Get out of here!" With those rough words screamed out against Kira like an earthquake he finally took the final bound towards the door, slipping through it as a warm force absorbed him._

* * *

Soft sounds constant and inhuman slowly filling Kira's eardrums before he ever noticed. He felt as if he was gone on a long trip, an exhausting travel with no destination. But no that was wrong…he was in a war. Then what were these beeps, this gentle patter of sounds invading him. Carefully and slowly his eyes peeled open to the world around him, the face of a slightly older but still beautiful woman smiling down at him.

"Well look at that! Good morning there, how are you feeling?" He recalled the voice as Taira's although he failed to see why she would be near him…unless. "Wait...did I get hurt?" Chuckling softly the kindly woman sat back upon a wooden stool situated next to his bed. His eyes shifted unconsciously to figure things out, noticing his little gown and the wires connected to his body.

"Well not really, but after that battle I guess you passed out. Takaru brought you back to the Archangel, so don't worry about a thing." His mind wandered to what he could recall, the battle to save Artinal…right they won that didn't they? _'Why am I having so much trouble concentrating…my head feels like it was split open'_ he never realized the strain he put on his body, working himself way past his physical limits.

"He-he wow you really should be more careful out there Kira, even when you got back here you were sweating" she smiled down at him like a mother might, warm and generous with real concern. He could only smile weakly in response as the fatigue bogged him down. His eyes were blurry, his voice soft and scattered. "I don't even feel like myself…" exasperated Kira buried his head in to the pillow beneath him with a long groan.

"That's natural so don't worry about a thing. A few more hours rest should have you up and about in no time." Painted with a frown he glared his way towards her despite his punch taken away, he didn't want to sit around and do nothing. Telling himself it wasn't necessary to rest his hands curled in to the sheet below him, pushing him up to a forced sit while almost passing out again in the process.

"Whoa calm down there. You shouldn't move too soon or you will just feel the effects more." Gritting his teeth the young pilot was forced to lean back against the wall with his heart pounding from the strain. 'It shouldn't be this hard just to move...I've never felt so awkward in my life!' Kira had to suck in a breath as his mind came back online, reminding him of the most important thing in his life "Cagalli! Is she alright? Did anything happen?"

Throwing aside his blanket the teen was suddenly full of life again to the amazement of the attending Tiara struggling to get him to lie back down. "She is fine! Why don't you just get a little more rest?" Sitting at the edge of the bed Kira curled his lips in to another frown, shaking his head in frustration "There's too much work to do…I have to repair the mobile suits…and help move supplies…repair the ship…check in with the captain…"

"You're not the only one working on this ship! Everyone here is working very hard to get things done so you can rest up. Don't think you are the only one fighting." Leaning back Tiara scowled at his constant attempts to get up.

"Look if you insist on leaving I will let you under two conditions. The first one is you can't do any work that requires much strain, your still weak. The second is you have to get some rest soon! Alright?" He nodded eagerly watching as she undid the monitoring equipment from him.

"Alright here are your clothes; I'll just step outside while you change." She disappeared through the sliding door with her clipboard hugged between both arms. Stretching himself out Kira slid off the annoying gown and quickly pulled on the pair of clothes waiting for him. His entire body felt heavy and weak making it much harder to do. Finally finished he passed through the exit with the familiar sound of the door sliding open with the sound of compressed air being released.

Already waiting Tiara turned to face the door with a smile nodding her head. Her hand disappeared in to the lab coat she wore digging for something. Pulling out a small bottle of pills Tiara pushed her hand out to pass them over.

"These should help you recover very nicely. Just take one in the mornings" Thanking the kind woman Kira took off down the hall waving back politely before disappearing around the corner. Sighing to himself he rolled his shoulder trying to shake the tense feeling from it.

"I should find Murrue." He headed for the bridge watching the busy technicians rushing up and down the halls. A few of them stopped to see how he was while the others never even looked up from their clipboards. _'Lot's to do…and I can't help."_

The door of the bridge had been locked open in order to allow the constant rushing of people in and out. Slipping past a kid he recognized as one of the ships gunners Kira waved over to Murrue who had until then been discussing ship status with two others.

"Alright the engines seem okay so direct some of the engineers over to the missile ports. Also the damage on the hanger is extensive." Both soldiers took their orders and left Murrue's presence leaning back against the frame of the archangel rubbing her eyes from lack of sleep. The entire ship was working harder than ever with things as they were. It was only then that she realized Kira fighting the waves of workers to get to her waving his hand back and forth.

"K-kira what are you doing! I was informed that you needed your rest" The two of them pushed off to the side away from the high traffic. Their voices were forced much higher almost to a scream just to be heard.

"I talked the doctor in to letting me off early, I wanted to help somehow!" The stern look from his captain told Kira she was not happy in the least. Wordlessly Murrue dragged him out of the bridge and in to one of the less active hallways, giving her the silence she needed to scold him.

"Kira just because you are a coordinator doesn't mean you can do everything on your own. I worry about you…all you do is try to put all our problems on your shoulders. It isn't healthy in the least! Look we have everything covered and repairs are well on their way. I want you to go to your room, take a nap and we can discuss things then. Got it?" Kira gulped down the lump in his throat as the menacing stare of Murrue pieced through him.

"Ah…yes…I guess…a nap might be good." Smiling nervously he watched her turn and walk away telling him to take care. _'Take care…that isn't important, not now.'_ When she was finally out of earshot he let out a long sigh rubbing his temples in frustration. Despite his orders he headed right for the hanger eager to help repair the mobile suits.

* * *

Alliance fortress

The meeting of the Blood Council had again moved location. Utter secrecy was the key for each and every attempt to bring the council members together. Except this time some were unable to attend. A round table lay practically empty in a well lit but bare room.

The lights above shined brightly to the point of practically blinding anyone stupid enough to look directly towards them. The chairs were of hard wood without any form of comfort, not usually suitable for long meetings. Things like this suited him though. Anything that caused suffering to others was the ideal solution for one General Alexander Isami. And that is why he sat alone in this uncomfortable chair waiting for the others to arrive.

"How much longer till I can dispose of all these pawns…" As if on cue the door flew open with a shower of voices pounding his eardrums. Groaning his dissatisfaction he called for them to enter quickly. Five men rushed to their positions around the table. Averting their eyes from the lights they concentrated on the Commander, ignoring the bare walls and basic steel structure of the room.

"Ah welcome all. I am glad you could make it to this meeting. As always we have a lot to discuss" His hands were folded in front of him perfectly while his eyes struck fear in to his comrades through the light reflection of his glasses.

"Alex I'm having reservations about our continuation in this war. We are losing battle after battle despite out numbers. And where are the other three members of this council?" The speaker was a senior general sitting directly to the left of Alexander. Only the fact they had served together prevented his death at shortening his name.

"Humph reservations you say!? My plans are perfect. Aegis my friend you shouldn't worry about the future for it is my job. As for the others it is doubtful you will see their return. Our good Colonel Rightfeld infiltrated Zaft in order to attack Artinal. Sadly he perished like the coward he was. General Haruka is overseeing my plans in space at the moment and Pilot Dobbs is guarding my son Ichi on an important mission. Anyone have other questions against my judgment?" The table lay silent taking in the information presented to them. It was obvious he was weeding out anyone who disagreed with his methods. The weak would be sent to die with simple orders.

"I didn't think so, seems it is safe to continue on to more important matters then. Colonel Rightfeld botched his mission to destroy Artinal which means the Archangel is likely to gain a powerful ally in them. It should not be long before General Haruka begins the plan to destroy Kira Yamato once and for all. In case it doesn't succeed…we will have to prepare to meet our guests on earth. "One of the members let out a harsh cough at the shock. This only drew forth another smirk from the Commander as he watched him ruffle around in his uniform for his medicine. Again his friend Aegis spoke up against him. With a displeased sigh Alexander listened.

"I hear your recent negotiations with Grandia broke down, what do you make of their threat? If they were to rally with other enemies it could be bothersome." Grandia had formed from the much older German and Polish states, joining the alliance only under enormous pressure.

"Those royal imbeciles are too prideful to enter in to an agreement with anyone. Even if they did it would mean no difference. If the time comes when our enemies unite against us then I will simply usurp the power of the Alliance, deploy every unit in our full control, invade and absorb the forces of Zaft and simply crush every last unit that dares fight me!" His convictions were real but his dread was as well. _'The Archangel is capable of uniting our enemies. The technology of Orb…The space forces of Artinal…The knights of Grandia…and the skill of Kira. Blah foolish, all of them! Once Ichi takes what we need Kira will no longer be a problem.'_

With every moment of this war under his full control Alexander prepared to bring it to a close…all in one fell swoop.

* * *

The Mind of an Author

I feel like this might end up being a large explanation. I was told recently that you should instantly know what I mean with my writing without me telling you otherwise I am not doing a good job. Do you think that's true? Should I scrap this and let you figure it out yourselves?

As for the story I am sure some of you are looking at the long beginning and asking yourselves 'Is this some sort of filler? Have his ideas run dry!?', if that is your thoughts I will tell you this is not the case. The beginning is actually my favorite sort of writing, something I call Dreamscapes. These at first can look like entirely different universes and actually they sort of are. It's a battle in a characters mind mostly. Their own self created space where they fight their inner demons. The man he met was actually an aged version of his father, his real one. That's just how I depict him acting. Remember Kira feels horrible about a lot of things; it is only natural for you to fight against yourself. More about this may be flushed out if I have the time since it isn't a 'necessary' part of the story, but it makes it interesting. I gave you a simple outlook on the Archangel and the Blood Council respectively, some of what Alexander said will be shown in the next chapter or two.

Bye bye for now!


	16. Triple Threat

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 16: Triple Threat

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny or any characters or locations involved. Only original ideas and characters are in my possession.

A/N: A dear friend of mine asked me for another lemon so it will be in this chapter, so I did.

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Artinal Factory

This was the second time Koji had to visit this factory now empty of the mobile suit it had built. Yet he knew its creator would still be there, he knew his answers would be found in this dreary back factory within the beautiful Artinal. His footsteps pounded along the metal with a fury upon the realization of what exactly he had given to Kira. Could his father actually have done such a thing?

The engineers he saw scrambling were now gone replaced by eerie silence, but as Koji remembered he could still here the faint typing coming from that small back room. Every step towards it made him more anxious. What if he was actually right? _'No…No, I can't be right…it must be a coincidence.' _He could see it clearly now, the light pouring out from that work room. A place where the worker was as cold as the tools he used.

Shoving the door open fully Koji charged in to the room with an ever growing fury, barely in control of his senses. The same boring atmosphere greeted him. His childhood was always the same way, anytime he visited it was always mounds of papers and folders, constant clicking of the keyboard and that old boring desk. The only thing that ever stood out in the room was a picture at the back of the room of a beautiful country landscape.

"Back again so soon? I wouldn't make a habit of it. I can only stand your face for so long" That hoarse voice cracked from the time he had been putting in. With the battle recently over there was a lot to be done, plans for repairs and also to rebuild the fractured military. Standing up from his seat Koji's father grinned widely with his glasses almost slipping off his nose.

"What did you do to that mobile suit…why did Kira faint?" Koji had gone over it in his head over an over. Sure battles took a lot out of a pilot but there was no way it lasted long enough to knock Kira out, almost placing him in a coma. His father stuck his hand out to pick up the cane hanging on the end of his chair, gripping it tightly to limp his way around the desk.

"You are the one who sent me the details of the mobile suit you wanted built correct? I simply built it to those specifications. You didn't let a friend pilot it did you? Pitiful…" He seemed to take pride in the knowledge he kept hidden from his son, whether the effects of that suit was meant for Koji or not.

"I must say it truly is my greatest creation yet. Technology is such an unbelievable thing isn't it? The ability to create any thing you desire all from small little more simple things." Age had shrunk the limping scientist by now causing him to be slightly shorter then his son as they met face to face, the sneering Koji and his grinning father.

"You haven't answered my question! Why did Kira faint after the battle?" Without a second thought Koji grappled his father by the collar, lifting him up against the wall and pressing him back against the cold metal. _'What possible reason could he have to keep grinning!?' _He waited for any sort of response from him but all he did was grip the hand holding him for the longest time with both frail hands. Finally as the room's lights momentarily blacked out Koji's father let out a sigh.

"You didn't expect a suit like that to come without consequences did you? Always the ideological fools, the whole lot of you. I gave you a mobile suit with the power to appear five places at once, deploy a shield capable of repelling a battleship and hold enough energy to continue in long battles. Obviously something has to be sacrificed to gain that. I simply chose to not worry about the pilot's safety…although I didn't think you would be stupid enough to give it to someone else." Koji's hand shook violently to the point he dropped his father to the floor, watching him struggle back to his feet while leaning against his cane.

"I can't believe you…sacrificing a pilot for a machine…? How…can you call yourself a human…never mind a parent?" There was no excuse for that sort of inhumanity, what use was a mobile suit that disregarded the pilot inside? That didn't make any sense…the pilot had to do the fighting so of course you would need their safety first. Crackling laughter was all that met his ears from this heartless man.

"I told you I simply did what you asked! The system on that suit is very unique. It taps directly in to the brain of the pilot to enhance his reaction time and abilities while also allowing them to utilize the weapons at full capacity. Of course if the pilot finds himself in a mentally or physically straining fight…there is always the possibility the system could completely fry the brain, leaving them a lifeless waste of space. I would say your friend was lucky he only fainted…must be rather skilled" Through the entire explanation he held no remorse for building such a thing, what point was there in worrying about it? But his son didn't seem as happy.

"You are a heartless son of a bitch! You couldn't even tell me this before hand!?" his father remained quiet as his son rated about the whole thing, staring at him over the edges of his glasses. In a fit of rage Koji turned to leave desperate to get out before he did something rash. Just before he reached the door his father's voice carried to him.

"If that kid is strong he shouldn't have a problem but you better hope he masters that system. It has a habit of…planting images that no medication can erase. If he doesn't end up in a coma he could very well go insane" Gripping part of the doorway tightly Koji forced himself to leave.

* * *

Archangel

Kira had done what he was told. Right after his conversation with Murrue he retreated to his room to get some rest intent on gathering his strength to help out the next day. Imagine his surprise to find Cagalli curled up in the middle of his bed sleeping peacefully. He never could get over how cute she looked with her frown replaced by peaceful sleep. It wasn't easy sneaking in to bed without her waking up…

Unfortunately getting out of bed wouldn't be any easier. _'Man…I should have slept longer than 6 hours, given her time to wake up first.' _First thing was first thought. Reaching over his sleeping sister he plucked the pills given to him from the bedside table he had left them on, sighing to himself. _'When was the last time I actually had a pill anyway?' _Kira had originally planned not to take the…until he woke up in a cold sweat after a rather nasty nightmare, his body shaking and his fatigue no where near gone.

"I have a feeling something isn't right…" shrugging it off for now he popped two of the small blue pills, forcing them down his throat dry. Cringing to himself he returned the bottle to its original position next to the small desk lamp. Next on his agenda was actually managing to get out of bed.

"Alright if I'm careful…" furrowing his brows he wiggled and twisted his way around the now sprawled out Cagalli, carefully climbing over her leg and slipping past her arm. The bed rocked slowly against the constant movement but still his sister didn't wake up. With a crash Kira slipped off the edge landing uncomfortably on the floor. _'Ow ow ow! That hurt…"_ Scrambling to his knees the teenage pilot peeked over the edge of the bed still seeing those eyes closed.

"Whew…" His sister was anything but a morning person. There was no way he was willing risking his health to wake up a sleeping lioness. Yet he still had to admit it would be wonderful to see and talk to her…a confirmation that she hadn't suffered in that battle. Sometimes the eyes were not the most trustworthy sense. "Ah I should take a shower"

**Lemon approaching: Read or skip to next bold message**

Shaking his head clear of those horrific thoughts of death and instead pressed in the button for the bathroom door, watching it open to its cool steel structure. Honestly Kira much preferred the bathrooms in a real home but that was to be expected. Here all they got was the bare necessities…nothing on the walls, nothing to look at. Maybe this was how they motivated soldiers to fight…boring the hell out of them.

"Ugh what is with my mind today? I can't seem to think of anything happy." Sliding the shower door open a small bit he slid his arm through the crack groping around for the showers knob. _'Almost…ah there it is! I think a cold shower would be nice…'_ twisting his wrist he could hear the sputter of water hitting the metal bottom.

With a rustle of fabric Kira freed himself from the confines of those clothes, still slightly damp from the night time sweat. _'Ah much better…' _Reaching his hand back through the showers door he could feel the almost freezing water numb his skin, absolutely perfect.

Pushing the door farther away from the wall he comfortably slipped in to the small but roomy shower just out of range of the pounding water. Taking a deep breath Kira plunged his entire body under that icy wave of water, gasping his held in air out with a long shiver. It was never easy going in but he was confident it was what he needed.

Maybe it was odd to take warmth from the cold feeling washing over him, leaving his head leaned slightly back as if he was being cleansed. _'Not that I could ever wash this blood off my body…all that matters is that I make sure it's worth it.' _Sometimes one just wishes it was as simple as calling it the past to let it rest. Was it just him that felt such deep regrets? His mind wandered through every event of this war and every place it took him, from the waters of earth, Antarctic ice, the endless void of space, the beautiful Artinal and most importantly in to the arms of Cagalli.

Maybe it was the loud sound of the water on metal or the fact he was lost in thought but he completely missed the sound of the door sliding open for a second time. Pushing a strand of hair back Cagalli twisted her lips in to a light frown, stepping in behind her brother. _'Is that all he does? Stand there and soak it in? What kind of shower is that?' _Hesitating to break his thoughts Cagalli threw caution to the wind in place of sliding her arms around Kiras waist feeling him jolts up slightly, pressing her cheek against his back with a sigh. Just coming in contact with Kira told her just how bitter the water was sending chills throughout her entire body. Instinctively she pushed her body closer and more firmly against him.

"Cagalli what are you doing here? I thought you were still sleeping." She offered no response as she enjoyed the contact between them feeling one of his hands rest over hers. The warmth between them and the frigid water gave such conflicting sensations it almost drove her insane. She didn't necessarily hate it though…

"How can you just sit under this cold water? Its nuts" She couldn't bring herself to yell and instead it passed to his ears as little more than a whisper. Sighing to herself she pressed her lips gently to his back in a gentle kiss feeling him relax as she held him closer. "I just like the cold I guess…helps me calm down"

"You're infuriating…" She growled out lightly kissing higher up on his back before chuckling. With that Kira turned around in her arms where violet met amber, where the cold water seemed to disappear, where time stopped for two twins caught up in the waves of war and passion. They simply stared deeper and deeper in to the welcoming eyes of their other. Suddenly with a newly blushing face Cagalli averted her eyes to the side, biting her lip slightly.

"Stop looking at me like that…!" With a puff of air she nuzzled her head in to the crock of his neck, ignoring the damp hair sticking frustratingly to her cheeks. "Look…at you like what?" Kira forced back a gasp as she brushed her lips over his neck teasingly, shivering with the added mixture of the water coming down over them.

"Like…" She stalled with parted lips to kiss his neck, sucking his pulse softly. She felt him tilt his head off to the side wrapping his arms around his equally cold sister. "…I'm the only girl for you" Only her gentle assault of his neck kept her from blushing, nipping at the cold buds of water running over his skin.

"Ah…but…you are" Cagalli smirked slightly at the control she had over him right now. He didn't even move in fear of her stopping. Yet even so his comment caused her to pause, her heart racing. _'I already knew that…why does it make me feel so…excited' _that momentary pause was all he needed to turn the table. Cagalli never saw it coming even as she felt her back press against the firm wall, a soft squeak passing as she felt the cold water finally gain access to her chest. Quivering her body felt the sensations instantly hardening the nipples on her aching breasts.

"K-Kira…!" He only smiled at her crushing his lips against hers. Her entire body shook now as she struggled to kiss back, that intense sensation that her entire body might explode just from a kiss. To make it worse she felt him draw in her bottom lip, sucking it between his lips. _'Ah…damn you Kira...you got control again!' _No matter how hard she tried Cagalli could never win with him, but there would always be another time.

His hands once around her were now running over her body way too slowly, one hand caressing and gripping her thigh the other sliding over her stomach letting a finger trace the outline of her bellybutton sensually. His lips pulled apart from hers carefully, staring at her before dropping them to her neck. The wet kisses made their way down her neck and over her collar bone, trailing his lips over to her shoulder.

"..A-ah…That's…" She drew in a breath as he bit down on her shoulder slightly. _'Why does…he have to be so…good at this…!' _Kira couldn't help but chuckle feeling her arm desperately grapple around his neck, burying itself in his soaked hair. He lowered his body more kissing down her chest letting his tongue pick up every spare drop of water. Moaning her support quietly Cagalli tried to grip the wall with her free hand, pressing her fingers in to the steel.

Raising his hand from her stomach he closed it around her right breast caressing it firmly and gently squeezing the soft mound. Cagalli couldn't speak and her breathing momentarily stopped, feeling his thumb tease the pert nipple with quick strokes. His hand was rougher then she would expect from Kira but she enjoyed it all the same.

"…Right there…" She breathed out softly as he moved his lips to her left breast, nipping at the side of it after each hard kiss. _'I think…Kira is more deadly then any war…god' _It wasn't that he was necessarily that skilled but each subtle movement held so much emotion she couldn't help but be carried away by it.

By now her entire body was aching to feel more of him everything from her parted lips over her abused breasts and even that spot between her legs. "…Mm…" Her head threw back against the wall as his lips closed around her left nipple. The sensations of his mouths warmth was only amplified by the forgotten but still effective water running down over them.

His tongue darted out tracing around the small bud before flicking it ever so slightly. Kira let out a muffled chuckle as his sister shuddered with a much louder moan, pulling his head tighter to her chest. He sucked diligently catching her nipple between his teeth with a gentle nip, pulling back slightly before releasing it to draw a croaky moan from her yet again. Smiling brightly he applied a gentle squeeze to her other breast watching her squirm.

"Do you like that then…" All she could do was nod at this point staring slightly down at him through her heavy breaths. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take this, her sanity slipping more with every second. Licking his lips Kira couldn't help but notice how amazingly cute she was. He loved everything about her. He lowered his lips once again watching as she arched her back to push her breast forward making it easier to capture her nipple between his teeth yet again.

His hand moved up from where it gripped her thigh sliding between her legs with a long slow rub. Her reaction was just as he expected, her entire body stiffened and her hips jerking against his hand. What he hadn't guessed was her hand trying to cling to the wall would slip along the water knocking the knob from cold to hot. Neither immediately noticed as Cagalli felt his hand continue his unfortunately slow strokes against her already moist womanhood.

It was only after a bit before the temperature immediately changed from the icy cold to a decently hot. Kira almost slipped from the shock and Cagalli bucked her hips with a light scream, grinding herself against him gently. Both of them let out a low moan happy for the distraction from the much warmer water. Although an accident Cagalli was entirely happy with it, purposely bucking her lips against her brothers. Smirking to herself at his obvious pleasure she felt his hand grip her leg. Silently he locked it around his waist where she quickly followed suit with her other leg. _'Mm…so that's how he wants it…'_ she held back a giggle as her body was held up only by a mix of the wall and Kira.

Face to face with him again she quickly pressed her lips to his, fiercely kissing him for the wonderful sensations coursing through her. Her tongue slipped out to trace his lips, meeting his own tongue for a moment before withdrawing. There was no need for the hesitation of their first time and with a loud moan shared between them he drove himself in to her, pushing her back against the wall harder.

He remained still inside her to instead softly kiss along her milky white neck for a moment before she growled out her protest, pushing her hips forward against him while locking her legs tighter around him. "No more teasing Kira!" He gave her a slight pout but she refused to give in. And with that simple command he pushed himself rhythmically inside her at an ever faster pace.

Cagalli pushing her hips to meet his forceful strokes with a long moan, shaking at the feeling of her walls stretching for him. She was confident that no one else in the world could make her feel like she did now. Burying her head back in to his neck purring softly as he pulled free of her driving back in with a harder thrust.

"K…Kira…harder damit!" She blushed lightly from how commanding it sounded but was forced to push it aside when he rammed in to her obtaining a loud moan from both of them, her breasts bouncing lightly with every drive against the wall.

Kira felt ready to explode already from the pure ecstasy of entering his beloved sister with every stroke, driving in to her faster as her groans called for it. He wasn't sure who was in control anymore…but he didn't care. Her whimpers and moans were enough to strike all thoughts from him.

Throwing her head back slightly she locked her slipping heels around his thighs with a desperate groan, bucking her hips back against him. Pulling back slightly Cagalli forced her lips against his, relishing in the heated passion of the kiss. To her they were one and together took in the pleasure of it, the gasps and groans as her hands carefully dug in to and clawed his back trying to get a grip his own hands planted firmly at her waist for each renewed plunge. "C-Cagalli…I can't…!"

"Ugh…Kira!" Instantly he came inside her with Cagalli following not far behind. Both shuddered at the fulfilling release, leaning in to each other for support. For awhile they said nothing…listening to each others hard breathing and panting…the still running water. Finally Cagalli lowered her shaky legs back to floor with a deep breath.

"Well…at least we are already In the shower" Kira grinned through his tired expression, his sister staring at him with disbelief after such a laid back expression. "Shut up…" even so she smiled back with the slightest of blushes. They shared a soft kiss before _actually_ taking the shower they both originally wanted only together…as they always wanted to be.

**End of lemon**

Kira was the first one out of the shower which wasn't exactly unexpected. _'I guess it's just natural for girls to take longer.' _With the quietest of yawns he plopped down to a sit on the bed, stretching his arms out as the sheet crumpled under him. Although their little excursion did little to help his fatigue it did wonders for his once dreary mood.

Replacing his towel with a fresh set of clothes Kira shifted over to the video phone, pressing in the button for the bridge. The screen flickered for a moment before expanding to the face of one of the technical officers.

"Oh! Kira it's you, how are you feeling?" The teen smiled genuinely as if the war hadn't even touched him. Smiling back Kira let out a slight sigh "still a bit tired I get but just fine otherwise. Is the captain there?" With a quick nod the officer responded "Yup!"

The screen disappeared and transferred to Murrue giving directions to someone who seemed like a new soldier. _'Some of Artinals men must have wanted to join us after the battle…' _Shaking it off he watched the brunette captain dismiss the man.

"Oh there you are Kira, I was about to have someone come wake you. Not good to sleep all the time." Those chocolate eyes were so kind, much like a mother might be. She pushed aside a rotating control panel getting in her way.

"If I remember you're the one who asked ME to sleep more. Not much of a captain if you can't make up your mind" They shared a short chuckle at the mild joke just before Kira got more serious "So how is things going? Anything I need to know?"

"Well…yes but we will go over that in a bit. Take your time getting ready and meet me in the hanger alright? Oh and try to find Cagalli too…I swear she is the hardest to track down!" Nodding his agreement the screen was gone with another click. _'I don't see why it's so hard…of course for me she just randomly pops up in my bed.'_

With time to spare he switched the screen over in to its TV function, flipping through Artinals channels mindlessly. Eventually he settled on the news report for the battle. It was already In the middle of broadcast when he switched.

"...-multiple structural problems. It is of no surprise that the flagship of Artinal will not be ready to fly anytime soon." Just behind the young reporter were screens of the battle, one of them the flagship sparking with several holes through it. Obviously it must have been designed to shrug off such hits.

"The military was taken a severe blow with over 50 of its strength already gone. Head engineer Gobi Rendell has promised for the military to be at 150 of normal size within just a short week. Although it seems impossible Gobi has shown how capable he is at achieving just that, the impossible." Kira recognized the last name as the same as Koji's. _'So that's his dads name…I wonder if he has the same personality' _as the stern picture was shown in the back he sorely doubted it.

"Causalities were surprisingly low duo to the quick recovery of all abandoned ships by merchant and private ships. The colony also received minimal damage. It is quite obvious from the detailed military reports that our own Takaru alongside Kira Yamato are the main reason for our lucky break." Kira groaned at the mention of his name, despising them for putting so much credit on him. So many people give up their lives…yet they are never given the proper respect on the news. _'I bet Takaru makes a memorial though.'_

"Here to discuss the possibility of Artinal going to war is Takaru himself." The screen shifted to fit the second figure, Kira perched on the edge of the bed with a lot more interest. The smiling reporter shook hands with the aged leader quickly.

"So Takaru some people say there is a good chance we may wage war against Zaft, do you think this could be in the near future?" Takaru was as calm as could be…did he have to be like that to calm peoples fears? Or was that just how he was?

"Ah well the recent attack proved that they were more then prepared to attack us at any moment. Now they have even more reason to fear us…they won't leave us alone. So I would say yes, Artinal may very well go to war soon." The reporter nodded eagerly, eating up every word. What earned such respect from the people? Was it kindness?

"What about the Earth Forces? Did you plan to join up with them to attack Zaft?" Takarus smile disappeared in to a stern glare. He didn't expect his people to be so ignorant as to even consider that an option.

"Not a chance. Recent information tells us they may be an even greater threat to our security. For now I plan to act in support of the Archangel and no other. I firmly believe those children may be our only hope for the future, and I implore you all not to blame them for the attack against us" Kira frowned slightly; those kind of thoughts had finally left him until now.

"Until a more trustworthy ally appears that is the only path we can take. Now if you would excuse me there is still much to do. Ah things never get easier with age…" The last thing Kira heard was that friendly chuckle when he clicked the off button. Cagalli chose then to come back from the shower, a towel wrapped firmly around her body.

"Ah…that felt so good!" Dropping backwards on to the bed she stared up on the ceiling with a smirk. Chuckling to himself Kira once again pushed back those dreadful thoughts in his mind. "Which part?" She glared over at him after an exasperated sigh. Sitting up her arm shot out to punch him in the arm, her stunned brother nursing what would probably be a bruise.

"Both." Kissing him quickly she dug through his drawers for the clothes she stashed away. Pulling them out from the bottom she looked over towards her brother slightly staring at him. Kira just stared back blinking obliviously. Finally his lips parted slightly in a little O.

"You have to be kidding me!" Her once neutral face turned in to a deadly glare. Throwing his arms up in defeat Kira stood from his spot leaving in to the Archangels hallways through the door. _'She can join me in the shower but I can't watch her change…god girls are so confusing…!' _

He waited patiently for her to finish and eventually he was rewarded, the door sliding open to Cagalli stepping out dressed in a much more casual outfit. It seemed many people were giving up wearing uniforms for now.

"Murrue wanted me to find you before I went to the hanger…so is it already to go now?" Nodding her agreement they took off down the hallway halfheartedly…leaving behind the sanctuary where they could express their emotions.

* * *

Artinal Hanger

The large hanger had very few people yet the sounds of mechanical work filled the entire place. Engineers worked on not just the Archangel but many of Artinals ships as well. Everyone gave their all…dedicated to the very last. Instead of Murrue it turned out Koji greeted them, smiling broadly.

"Hey kid how you feeling?" Koji did his best to maintain his composure. _'I can't tell him about it yet…no, it would just worry everyone.'_ Kira chuckled softly at the concern shrugging it off and insisting he was fine. Together the three passed through to the Hangers control room.

"Ah there you guys are!" Murrue seemed to have been waiting, leaning against the bare wall patiently for their arrival. "I guess Koji found you two ok" Her smile drew one from each of the other three.

"Of course I found them; I mean how hard can it be when they are always together?" Chuckling to himself Koji watched Kira blush throwing his arms up in a sort of defense. Yet even so he couldn't seem to form words. Cagalli on the other hand just waved her hand dismissively, well used to his little jokes. Except this time his eye caught that little flash of light reflected from her hand…_'No way…'_

"Oh? You guys are here already…wow well I must really be getting old" Takaru laughed to himself, slipping past Kira and Cagalli to reach the control panel. Koji had to put his thoughts on hold…

"Takaru you called ALL of us here?" Cagalli gritted her teeth with a bad feeling sitting in her stomach, even with that peaceful air she couldn't see anything good from his meeting.

"Ah well yes, I needed to see all of you. I wish it was for a better reason…" Finally he dropped that friendly air showing the true worry across his old features. There was no doubting something was about to change. Murrue even seemed confused, left out of the loop.

"Takaru what are you talking about?" Kira bit his lip to avoid worrying too much, that wouldn't help things. If only he knew that everyone in the room had that same feeling despite their judgment. Takaru did not answer them…this problem was beyond words. Slipping in to the command consoles chair he quietly searched the records.

"Earlier this morning we picked up an Earth Alliance transmission…just give me a second" The room felt smaller for Cagalli and ever more distant from her brother despite him being right next to her. _'Why am I having all of these predictions…and none of them good!' _growling her frustrations out under her breath she let out a sigh just as the video pulled itself on screen.

It seemed to be recorded at some sort of conference, the alliance solider standing at a pedestal while the scenes played themselves behind him. "Today we take new steps to secure our unified power!" cheers broke out throughout the collected mass of soldiers while the speaker continued his spiteful tone.

"Behind me our scenes of the new Alliance weapon destroying what was once a Zaft fleet!" Kiras heart sank as the clips showed numerous Zaft ships being torn apart by thousands of beams, he could almost hear the screams of death and pain from them. The sounds of explosions filled his ears. _'What the hell can cause that kind of destruction…?'_

"Our Nova Cannon will put an end to any and all opposition against this proud nation, what force would dare go against us? With just a push of the button we can demolish their ships and men while leaving ours unscathed!" A second round of applause rang out through the room only louder, and then the screen cut out.

"Wait…what the hell was that! You would need a huge space fleet to cause that sort of damage!" Cagalli was infuriated, how could they have such contempt as to clap for such a useless destruction of life? Koji on the other hand did not seem so surprised.

"Didn't you hear them? It wasn't any sort of fleet…it was some Nova Cannon thing…old man, do you know what that thing is?" He nodded his head down quickly, turning in his chair. "I wish I didn't…when we caught that transmission we looked immediately in to. That fleet destroyed was the one retreating from the attack against us."

"W-wait what? How could the alliance reach too far?" Murrue drew the same conclusion as most of them…if they could hit tat fleet, then Artinal could surely be attacked by that same force. "Their weapon…is a gigantic satellite. It's huge…capable of processing and splitting an enormous amount of energy."

"So basically they are taking a large amount of raw power and carving it in to smaller beams…well they aren't stupid. With that they eliminate the chances of overheating their equipment" Takaru only grunted at his understanding of the fact.

"Wait so where are they getting all this power…?" Kira seemed to ask the golden question of the moment and Takarus response would prove just how much the Blood Council now wanted him dead.

"The sun…"

* * *

Mind of an Author

This chapter isn't too big actually; it's more of a set up in to the next one. There isn't really too much to explain I think you get the idea. Kira has a mobile suit that doesn't care about the pilot's health…and the Blood Council is out for his life, joy. My only major concern about this chapter is how much it sucked…god I am so sorry people, I don't know what is up with me lately. I feel alone, depressed and it's killing my writing…I just can't concentrate. Anyway happy 1 year anniversary for this fanfic as of 8/10/07…


	17. Desperate Betrayal

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 17: Desperate Betrayal

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny.

A/N: This should have been up awhile ago...ill explain at the end. And this chapter is short, sorry. Enjoy.

* * *

Artinal Hanger

There was a general panic all throughout the colony, but it was a silent thing. You wouldn't even notice the fear in the people if you were not looking closely. For Kira he could see it in their eyes...that deep question begging to be answered. It was not just the citizens that wanted to know what would happen, it was everyone.

Just a day after the announcement of the Earth's new weapon and already hope for victory was bleak and shattered. The most eternal optimists sulked around with clipboards. No one seemed to be able to come up with a decent plan. Kira studied the work being done on the Archangel alongside Koji.

"Why are we still hanging around here? Nothing much we can do about a giant thing like that. I say we split and leave it to the geezer." Leaning back against the frame of the large ship Koji just stared up at the brightly lit ceiling. It was wrong to say they were working together, Kira was the one doing work.

"We can't do that! We have a responsibility to help. What do you have against Takaru anyway?" It was growing more and more obvious of the contempt the freelance mercenary had for the old man, the loud groan of the lazy Koji no exception to that fact.

"I don't exactly have anything against him, it's just I don't like him. He's too calm about things." Kira forced back a laugh at that sound of that. '_Coming from someone who just lazes about without a care' _handing a clipboard of needed parts to an Artinal engineer he watched the young worker run off eagerly. "Wouldn't that energy be more useful trying to come up with...oh I don't know, a plan?"

"Kid don't boss your elders around. Besides theres no way in hell we can attack that thing. Let's forget for a moment it's a giant cannon...or the fact it's guarded by half the lunar fleet. It's near the damn sun! I don't even know how they get that close, and you want US to try?" Sighing at the blunt but very true conclusion Kira turned towards the slightly off beat footsteps coming toward them. The light tap of Takaru's cane followed every broad step.

"Ah good morning to you two. Seems you are hard as work as always Kira" If he hadn't been told Kira wouldn't even have known it was morning, there was little time for sleep and no need to wait for the proper time when in space. "We were just trying to think of something to do about that Nova Cannon..."

"Oh yes, that is the reason I came by to see you. I may have come up with a plan to destroy it." Suddenly the air seemed to go silent, Kira couldn't hear the buzzing of voices and the scrapping of metal...or maybe he didn't want to. It was such an unexpected thing to hear. "What do you mean? What kind of plan?"

"Oh it's quite simple actually...but before I explain further I need to ask for your cooperation Mr. Rendall" A light scoff was the only response to that. Sighing softly Takaru moved a step or two closer to the group staring up at the Archangel. "I would love to do it without your help, but I'm afraid that just isn't possible."

"Koji! The least you can do is hear him out" the continued protests of Kira wore him down to at least consider the offer although he still didn't look happy about it. Relieved Kira pushed Takaru to explain his plan.

"Well as I said, it is quite simple. The Invisible has the capabilities to slip completely by their detection due to it's unique design isn't that right? If we use the ship to flank the satellite it won't be hard to catch them by surprise"

"Wait, are you insane? Let's say you do get to the side of the cannon...what the hell would we take it down with!? I won't risk my crew for some half baked scheme." The glare Koji sent off didn't even cause the aged leader to flinch. His never ending smile did drain slightly before continuing. "We plan to attach a prototype cannon to the underside of the ship, if the stabilizers on the weapon are hit we can spiral it right in to the sun."

Koji opened his mouth to protest a bit more but Takaru was a step ahead of him. "It is not hard to repeal the heat of the sun, if we cover the ship and a few mobile suits with a heat resistant armor it will not be difficult to protect them. Although any mobile suits will need to be heavily modified. If the thrusters are too weak the pull of the sun could prove disastrous"

"Fine go ahead and use my ship, but you won't get my crew. You can load it with your own suicidal soldiers." Nodding his head Takaru seemed to have planned that from the start, no captain would willing send their men on a mission they felt was impossible. "It will take a few days but-"

"I want to go" Kira's demand was firm, he wouldn't let them go on a mission like that alone. Besides the chances of Artinal's soldiers pulling that off was almost zero. If the ship was spotted there was no way they could get out without cover, Kira could provide that. Koji on the other hand didn't take kindly to it

"There's no way in hell! Don't get warped in to his insane plans, it's a damn suicide mission and nothing more." They argued back and forth until a new person interrupted their talks. Squeezing between them everyones eyes laid on the green haired boy in front of them smiling innocently. "I think it's a great idea! Kira usually makes it through anyway right? I can even go with him, they don't know much about the ship after all"

"Well...um Clyde, thank you" Kira was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of him going to but if things went smoothly there should be no reason for them to be out in mobile suits. Koji seemed to accept this as well, sighing to himself in defeat "I'm out numbered so I guess it's ok..." he at least knew someone besides Kira on the ship could be trusted.

Grinning widely Clyde kept rambling about how much fun it would be to go on a mission with Kira, how they could bond or something of the sort. It was across the next three days preparations were made, tireless work of overhauling and reequipping 5 mobile suits and an entire battleship. But eventually as the final checks were made the night before, the plan now known as 'Operation Teardrop' was the only hope of the colony.

* * *

Operation Teardrop

Already late for take off Kira rushed down the last hallway in to the hanger rubbing his eyes of the last hold of sleep. He felt guilty taking so long when everything was already so full of life, the yelling of newly invigorated soldiers spread hope throughout the youth and excitement in the old generals.

"Kira! Kira!! Over here!" Clyde's hand shot up above the crowd waving furiously towards him. Even after he caught the teens attention he continued by jumping up and down in excitement. Only when Kira made it across the entire room did the small body stop moving. Grinning widely he slipped his hand through the green hair on his head, leading his temporary commander in to the sleek battleship.

"You made it just in time, isn't this exciting? We get to destroy that giant thing you know? I bet you were saying goodbye to everyone right? That must of have been it..." Chuckling nervously to himself Kira wanted to know where he got all this energy from. _'I don't see how having a colony counting on you as exciting...'_. He did at least get a chance to say goodbye to everyone, though Cagalli would have a few choice words when he returned.

_Flashback_

_Quietly slipping out of his room a sigh of relief escaped Kira's lips, pulling his uniforms coat through his arms and straightening it out. He kind of enjoyed looking all professional sometimes, even if he didn't deserve all the respect he received. When Takaru gave him command of the mission he was baffled, though it may have been expected since he did it once before._

_For the first hallway or so his feet barely touched the group, light and soft against the polished metal floors. Even that though wasn't enough to save him from what he dreaded. Just as he believed he escaped the loud patter of someone running caught his ears. He didn't even have time to turn around when he felt that body smash in to his back knocking him to the floor with a thud._

"_W..Wha- Ow...Get off me!" He squirmed underneath uselessly as his sister took seat on his back, even without being able to see Kira could sense the deep frown across her lips. 'I was so close to getting away too...!!'_

"_I thought I told you to wake me up before you went!" Twisting his head a bit to catch a portion of her face Kira only squirmed more, groaning out his displeasure. How hard was it to understand he just didn't want to have to say something as final as goodbye? He was much happier just apologizing when he got back. He felt the weight lift off him, with a light sigh Kira picked himself up off the floor._

"_Oh? You asked me to? I don't remember that...must have slipped my mind..." Turning towards her with his whore hearted attempt at playing dumb only brought more pain to him, the mighty fist of his lioness smashing in to his shoulder much harder then normal practically throwing him off balance. "Don't you dare play dumb with me!"_

"_Hey! That hurts..." With his shoulder stinging all he could do was nurse the abused skin with his hand, picturing the big red mark that would probably bruise under his uniform. 'Wow she must really be pissed...'_

"_Not as much as waking up with you sneaking out, when...when who knows what could happen! The least you could do is wake me." Her growl was as fierce as ever, no one could say her bark was worse then her bite though. Releasing her anger through a giant puff of air she threw her arms around him tightly, squeezing the life out of him._

"_C-Cagalli!" wrapping his arms around her loosely he gave a quick embrace before pulling off, bitting his lip slightly. Somehow she understood though, that he was trying to wait till he got back...or maybe he wanted a reason to get himself back, in one piece at least. "Right...Fine, your going to be late right...?"_

"_Y-yeah but..." Kissing her quickly he slid a small disk in to her hands smiling lightly. 'I'll be back...I'll always be back...' Without giving her a chance to even question him he took off down the hallway at full speed, yelling back at her speechless expression._

"_It's an AI program to the freedom! I finished it for you!" Waving he turned the corner, leaving a flustered Cagalli almost in tears. 'Baka...he was working so hard the last few days, and still had time to work on this? BAKA!'_

_End Flashback_

"Yeah I have everything all set Clyde...so are we taking off soon?" Looking towards his shoulder Kira made a light grumble _'it still stings.' _Before Clyde could even respond to him a loud bellow echoed off the empty hallways of the Invisible.

"There you kids are! I've been waiting forever, the names Taki." A large burly fellow with a thick beard seemed to barrel towards them. He walked with a bit of limp but you would never notice without good eyes. The man naming himself Taki wore an Artinal's uniform so Kira guessed he was the one in charge of the corps going along with them. "...Or Captain Taki if you want to be formal, I'd rather you didn't!"

"Oh well...Hello Taki, are we almost ready to go" Unlike the tired Kira, the energetic kid to is right gave a much more enthusiastic welcome. Taki began to brief him on their plan and flight path, going down the list of everything on their agenda from memory. _'I wouldn't have expected such an outgoing man to be so knowledgeable...and on such short notice.'_

The group made it's way up to the bridge where only a few hardened and brave soldiers sat on posts, either reading manuals or getting acquainted with the controls of the ship. Though none of them seemed nervous he wondered if they were at all scared, going on such a mission.

"We are ready to take off at any time, so just name when your ready." With a nod of the head Kira sat down in the captains chair with a slight smile...it was kind of fun, his first time acting as captain. _'Just have to remember what Murrue does...'_

"Right, then let us get started...we don't have any time to spare." Clyde ran to the navigation controls with excitement, slipping in to the seat. Looking back at Kira they shared a minor nod before the engines came to life, slowly slipping the ship off the released security bays and out through the bulk head doors.

Within moments they were on a full speed course towards the sun, the cloaking system activated just moments before entering the Earth forces detection zone. The trip took about half a day at full speed, and for most of it the group simply went through idle chatter talking about plans and their lives. Clyde took off too check on engine output halfway through but before long they were approaching their destination.

"Alright we have it in our sights, change course and move to the satellites flank." All they had to do was fire one shot at the stabilizers...then they could go back, it would be simple and short...no real danger. Kira had to keep telling himself that, he didn't want to jinx it after all. Taki went to each station personally to check on the progress, grinning as everything seemed to be green.

"Hey you know, this might actually work" Laughing to himself everyone kind of just tried to ignore him, considering it was as if he was saying he didn't believe they even had a chance until now. The ship moved slowly to conserve power sliding towards it's goal at a sluggish pace. Within a short period though the Invisible positioned itself directly to the left of the station with a sizable distance between them.

"Wow...even from here that thing looks gigantic..." Staring at it through the monitor Kira began to doubt their ability to take it down with one shot. '_The stabilizers...I can't think bad...we can do this...we must'_

"Begin charging the cannon" With Kira's order Taki gave the command, the furious typing of the weapons experts assigned by Takaru beginning the power core. Even from within the ship they could hear the turbine wind and grind picking up speed till it didn't even seem to move...just a blur. The energy gathering in the cannon grow brighter and brighter until finally...it stopped, the light dissipating and the turbine shutting itself down.

"W-wait what's going on!" They were so close...how could lady luck leave them behind now. The crew looked dumbfounded, everything had seemed perfect. No one had an answer for him. "I'm going to check on the cannon!" lifting from his seat Kira opened the door to the hallway.

'Wait, I'm going to!" Jumping up Clyde followed alongside as they ran towards the back of th ship, heading towards the bottom hatch. Yet they never made it there, in a sudden burst the world went black in Kira's mind...his body falling over itself, his last sight before passing out the tear stained face of Clyde.

* * *

Mind of an Author

Yeah...I know, another build up chapter...and it isn't even that good. I'm really losing my touch. The original version of this chapter which I felt was top notch was lost with a computer crash, I reproduced it to the best of my ability. I hope this at least keeps you interested to a point, I'll try to make the next chapter up to the readers standards! Anyway yeah not much to explain here so please review


	18. Significance of Siblings

Undeniable Truth

Chapter 18: Significance of Siblings

Disclaimer: You still know I don't own any of the original Gundam stuff right?

A/N: The title can be deceiving, don't start assuming things yet .

Dedication: This chapter will once again be dedicated to the very lovely Cassandra. Why? Because without her there's no such thing as motivation for me. Writing this has become not just something for my own enjoyment but to impress her.

* * *

_Perpetual darkness..._

A body pressed roughly up against gears and knobs of all types, hands tightly wrapped up in unyielding rope in this perpetual darkness that would not fade.

_Excruciating pain..._

His nerves felt broken and twisted as pain soared between them, an agonized groan of protest. Kira's neck almost felt broken but then if it was he would not have woken up like this. _'What the hell happened to me...'_

Senses were returning slowly letting the hum of computers fill his ears along with the creak and rattle of mechanics all around him. Everything seemed so blurry, nothing came to mind when he tried to recall it. _'We were on the ship...then the cannon...Clyde!'_

"Ow ow owwwww" With a jolt Kira had tried to jump up from his small corner, smashing his head against something overhead. Finally with a start eyes popped open to view the dimly lit area around him. There was no mistaking this place, it was without a doubt the cockpit of a mobile suit. His hands were bound but his legs could still move freely.

"Kira you shouldn't move so fast...I hit you pretty hard" the shaking voice of Clyde kept him somewhat calm, but the fact he was even here could mean only one thing. "So it was you, kidnapping seems a little out of your character." Carefully he moved to a more comfortable sitting position behind the main pilots seat. From the monitors it appeared they were already in space. _'Damn how long was I out?'_

"Don't act so calm! It's...It's, shouldn't you be screaming?" Anger would be the usual first reaction to a situation like this, though Kira couldn't bring himself to be. Clyde's quivering form and the unusual shake of his voice kind of took the bite out of him. Besides that he also didn't know much about what was going on, so blowing up would only hurt his chances of finding out. "Who would I scream too exactly? You'd just gag me then."

"Did I hit you that hard, why are you acting so strange." Arching an eyebrow Kira leaned back with a sigh, Clyde throws him in here and suddenly he's the strange one? _'My head hurts so bad right now...'_

thinking was even a chore in this position. "Clyde please turn around, if we don't go back..."

"I can't do that, I have to bring you to the Nova Cannon..." That caught his attention sitting up straight with saucers for eyes. Struggling with his restrictive ropes Kira tried his best to break free. "You can't be serious, what are you thinking!?"

"It's...personal, please don't think bad of me...I just...I don't have a choice." This whole thing seemed like just a bad dream, the worst possible outcome being played out from the fears and doubts in his mind. Yet this was just so real it seemed very unlikely to change...there was...no waking up from this...

_Nightmare._

"Hey wait, there's a lot of things we don't have a choice on but diving headfirst in to our enemies base isn't one of them!" Kira screamed with all his might trying to deter this kid from something that was too dead set to change, what was on that cannon? Why did Clyde do this? None of it made any sense.

"Just sit back and be quiet, please!"

* * *

Docking station

The Nova Cannon's operation was much like a small city with everything from a hospital to a library, thousands of people walked it's halls working on the many parts keeping it from spiraling in to the sun. The best of the best in engineers were stationed upon it's hollow steel shell.

"Hanger 4 preparing for incoming vessel, opening bay doors 2 and 3...disabling security locks 5, 6, 9. Correct rotational position in 30 seconds, final safety disengaged. Heat reflectors and dissipation rings all green." To land on such a monumental base required near perfect timing. The bay doors had to be opened at the short time it faced away from the sun or risk the safety of the dock crew.

Behind thick protective glass stood an aged general glumly staring out towards the wide open space filled to capacity with mobile suit's and ships. Finally they would have custody of the traitor Kira...but at what cost? General's were growing crueler by the day in their tactics.

"I remember a day when my name used to be something to look up to, now look at me.." Admiral Haruka chuckled to himself, it was too late to back out now after all. He had fallen for the general's promise of peace without ever understanding what that really was. The cold calculated voice of the dock operator rang out over the speakers once again.

"Opening bar door 1, please clear landing area immediately." The massive doors slid apart from each other parting the air tight enclosure to allow the single mobile suit passage in to their base. Yes it was time for the final act. Slowly Haruka turned and left the observation room where several soldiers already stood ready.

"You two run ahead and prepare the interrogation room, the rest of you are to follow me" Ignoring the affirmative grunts from these scared little minions of the general Haruka headed down the stairs to await his guests.

* * *

Directly after the landing of Clyde's mobile suit both of them were rudely forced to exit to the floor below, their helmets being the only source of air in this tightly sealed vault. Three soldiers with guns held high ordered them to a door off to the far left of this giant hanger. 

"Apparently they don't like guests..." twisting his hands inside the ropes around his arms Kira followed behind the green haired captor in front of them, the point of a soldier's gun stabbing In to his back. "Hey watch that thing please...! How do I get in to these messes..." Cagalli would be so pissed about this, just thinking about it made his face twist in agony.

"Shut up kid this ain't your territory." Sighing Kira refrained from responding and noticed the door just feet from them slide open. Packed in to the tight room the door closed behind them, with only two soldiers following them in.

"Filtering air in to chamber." The monotone voice echoed out just as bursts of air shot through several hoses in the side of the wall, balancing out the pressure between the two sides of the door. The pulses of air faintly died away as the door before them slid open to reveal an old general with a stern face, wrinkles twisted up in that high and mighty way Kira had come to expect.

"Welcome Kira, my name is Admiral Haruka. I have heard a lot of your renegade exploits" why was it that the large powers always viewed people against them as renegades? The Archangel wasn't even putting on an offensive. Clyde's soft voice replaced the silence from Kira. "You promised to let my sister go, where is she!?"

"In due time kid. First of all I want to extract some info from our guest, then you will have that darling little sister of yours." Clyde tightly balling his fist up roughly grabbed the light military uniform of the admiral, who made no move to resist what he felt was the grip of a child. "If you did anything to her at all I'll...!" Calmly Haruka grabbed the hand to pull it off his collar, shaking his head lightly. "She has silently been sleeping, no harm has come to her and the gas we used is not lethal."

Once Clyde had calmed himself down Haruka took him down one of the three branching paths from the juncture they stood in front of of, calling back to the few guards waiting behind him. "Take him to room F, I'll show him to his room then meet you there. Separated from the general and the pilot Kira found himself surrounded on four sides, being marched down the echoing steel walkways of this massive station.

"Keep moving boy! I won't to get my damn shift over with, not baby sit" Being stuffed in this station sure seemed to make guys cranky, though Kira couldn't exactly blame them. _'Well here goes nothing...'_taking a deep breath he twisted his ropes a bit trying to find the small cut. _'Come on...Come on...yes!' Twiddling_ the area in his fingers a bit he twisted and pulled the tiny cut few would notice, breaking the threads one by one.

"I said keep moving!" He had slowed his pace to work on the ropes and drew more angry curses from the soldier, who quickly shoved the front of his gun against his spine. "Uuugh, ow!" The soldier went to do a second one farther up on his back but only met air as Kira ducked under it, sliding and swinging his leg upward launching the weapon in to the air.

"Whaaa- Keh!" The second soldier flew against the wall from a swinging kick to his face. The gun less soldier leaped at him from behind grappling him under the shoulders. Holding him tightly the guard refused to let go until Kira threw his elbow back in to his face twice, dropping the man to the floor holding his bloody nose.

"Damn you!" Bullets sounded as the third guard attacked but just a little to late. Kira had already ran to the left flanking the barrage of bullets pattering and bouncing against the floor. Even before he could pull off another attempt at shooting he was pressed in to to the wall with a knee in the chest.

"Phew..." Relaxing his knuckles Kira picked up one of the forgotten rifles, checking the clip real quick before leaning against the wall. "I almost got myself killed there...well I'm free at least, thanks to Clyde..."

* * *

__

_ Flashback_

"_Just sit back and be quiet please!" Groaning to himself Kira released a built up puff of air, trying to relax his building nerves. He was really kidnapped by Clyde, how long had it taken to sink in? The whole thing just seemed so impossible. "Just tell me why your doing this at least..."_

"_I'm sorry...I never wanted to, it has nothing to do with you so..." Kira cut him off with another plea for info, just wanting to know what could convince someone to betray him like that. "It was...I mean, look it's just a long stupid story! I'm begging you to stop..."_

"_Not until I know what's going on. You have to tell me something at least!" Silence followed until Clyde finally broke down, tears streaming down that pained face, tears that had been building up from the very moment he agreed to join Kira on this mission. "They have...They have my little sister..."_

_End_

Of course Kira agreed to help him get his sister back, Clyde knew he couldn't trust the alliance to return her. He had cut his ropes just enough to let him break them when the time came. _'I promised to help and theres no going back now.'_

Rolling his shoulder Kira quickly took off down the hallway wiping his brow as he went. There was no ally for him here, no one to save him. This would have to be done with his own merit and skill. "Let's see I should have a few minutes before they find their guards, so I should concentrate on finding his sister."

The halls were surprisingly empty for such a well maned station._'Most of the soldiers must be at certain posts, and not around the halls' _with no idea where to look Kira went mostly blind down each hallway he came across until he finally spotted a computer terminal. "Great timing, let's see...integration rooms, guest rooms...hm how in the world am I supposed to know what room she would be in?"

He examined everything quite closely before delving deeper in to mainframe, bypassing two security codes along the way._'Files...Cameras...Man don't they keep a list of people on this thing!?' _Everywhere he searched nothing came up. Throwing away the basic method he hacked his way in to the route access and programmed in a quick search code which began running down the entire database.

_Beeeep, Beeeep, Beeeeeeeeeep._

Red lights flashed in all directions bathing the halls in red and fading back out only to start again. They might not have expected a hack job like this but they had certainly prepared for it. _'Dammit don't these people know what cutting corners means!' _The list of names and files continued rolling down the screen as Kira impatiently tapped his hands on the wall, nervously looking down for soldiers.

The sound of footsteps rang out from everywhere carried by the vibrating metal walkways, each step spooking him more then the last. The monitor gave out a small resounding beep resting on a single name.

_Emily Ichiro_

"3rd floor, 6th guest room. Well...I'm on the second so I need to go this-"

"Hey you!" Running towards him from the other side of the hall was two guards readying their guns. Choosing to run rather then fight Kira turned tail to take off down the other hall, a guard jumping out to surprise him at the end of the hallway. With bullets soaring from behind he had no time to be surprised, shoving the gun in his face away with his own and slamming the back of it to the man's neck.

Repeating the room number to himself he followed the stairs up, roundhouse kicking one guard over a railing and using a take down on a second attempting to grab his arm. _'They want me alive? If they were smart they would just shoot!'_

"You are authorized to terminate the subject should he not comply with custody"The monotone voice spoke out throughout the station so in tune with his thoughts that it was quite scary. On the third floor two more guards were stationed just outside his target room, not even giving him a chance to leave the stairwell. The fire concentrated on the corner of the door kept him pinned as they reloaded in shifts.

"Here goes nothing...!" During one of the reloads Kira rolled out from the door two bullets grazing him along the arm and shoulder before following his trail across the hall. Short bursts of fire erupted from the rolling figure silencing the opposing fire. Picking a grenade and radio out from one of the guard he headed back for the stairs. Clicking on the radio he did his best to mask his voice.

"Kyaaah...Ahhaa, the kid is heading towards the first floor hanger! We need backup...can't...stop...krrrrrr" Pulling the pin on the grenade he threw it down the stairwell along with the radio, jumping back in to the hall as the fire shot up from the explosion. "That should keep them busy."

Returning to the room he slowly pushed the door open to see a sleeping girl resting on a bed, maybe only 13 years old with flowing green hair resting too peacefully. Carefully approaching her Kira scooped her up, and lifted her up on to his back. "They really knocked her out good...alright this is going to be the difficult part."

Clyde's sister clutched on to his back lightly mumbling a light _'brother'_before growing silent again. Chuckling lightly to himself Kira mused on the idea of it. "I seriously doubt you'd want to be my sister, I have a strange relationship with mine" he wasn't really sure why he was talking to himself, but it kept him calm.

"Now I just need to get-"

A gunshot sounded.

* * *

A/N: Oh my god am I really stopping it there? You bet ya. I think I'm getting the hang of this whole cliff hanger thing. I know it's optional but please read the next section just this once pouts

Mind of an Author

I know it's been like forever since I've updated, and if you look on my profile it even says all my stories are stalled. Even so...I couldn't help but take a day out of my time to write this chapter, mind you I had no time to do anything but a basic edit/read through but I think it turned out ok. My writing recently has been along a different style so the characters and usual format are probably kinda off. I think I was getting the hang of it farther in but you should definitely be able to tell the difference.

One of the reasons you have seen so little of me is the fact I was trying to get a website off the ground, which I finally managed to do...and yet I have no traffic (marketing was never my strong area). So I'd like to ask a favor...please visit my website! - It doesn't have much content right now and it's quite simple but...it would mean a lot to me if you'd sign up and talk to me on the forums. I'll even add an area where you can talk about my fan fics if you'd like (I'll only add it if requested though).

The website is: www dot animenotenshi dot com

it's a shameless request but please, and if your bored I'm looking for some help on the site and on a separate project as well. If your interested view the announcements section of the forums.


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